The Nation - News from Jan. 16, 1986

Requirements for supervising surgical interns at Veterans Administration hospitals are being met with “a lack of compliance throughout the VA system,” according to a government report prepared by the General Accounting Office. The report said the problem is especially severe in the days just before and after operations by residents--doctors who have just completed medical school. Senior surgeons failed to see the patients within 24 hours after surgery, the report said.