Local News in Brief : Rape Exams Discussed

Negotiations between Los Angeles and hospital representatives on fees for examinations of rape victims continued Friday with a counterproposal by the Hospital Council of Southern California. The council said it would accept the city’s proposed $200 reimbursement for the exams until the end of the current fiscal year--if the city will start paying the hospital’s asking rate of $400 next July.

“If the city accepts, we are confident that hospitals currently treating rape and child abuse victims will continue to do so, and at least eight more hospitals have assured us that they will join the system,” council spokesman David Langness said. Mayor Tom Bradley said Thursday that the city would pay $200 “and not a dime more” for examinations of rape victims.