Obstetrics

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome has permanently changed the way people think about sex. Therefore, regardless of the contraceptive method a person prefers, anyone not in a mutually monogamous relationship should exercise extreme caution -- not only in choosing partners but during sex itself.Latex condoms offer good protection against sexually transmitted diseases. "But condoms reduce -- rather than negate -- the risks," says Dr. Charles Hammond, the head of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C."

State health-care regulators have clarified the manner in which Upper Chesapeake Health System can proceed with its plans to build a new hospital near Bel Air and consolidate existing services in Harford County.The decision Tuesday by the Maryland Health Resources Planning Commission was in response to a request in January by Upper Chesapeake, a medical-management group that operates Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace and Fallston General Hospital.Upper Chesapeake wants to close Fallston, scale back Harford Memorial operations and build a $44.8 million hospital on the Route 24 corridor between Abingdon and Bel Air. It also wants to transfer the pediatrics and obstetrics departments from Harford Memorial to the new facility, a proposal opposed by some residents.

A new device that vaporizes uterine fibroid tumors is as effective as the standard method of removing the tumors, but causes less bleeding, according to doctors who use it.The VaporTrode first sections the tumor to allow the doctor to remove a sample for testing, then vaporizes the abnormal growth."

Dr. John A. Engers, a retired obstetrician and gynecologist, died of cancer Oct. 19 at his Phoenix home. He was 84. Born in Baltimore and raised on 37th Street in Ednor Gardens, he attended St. James the Less School and was a 1945 graduate of Mount St. Joseph High School, where he was class valedictorian. He received a bachelor of science degree from Georgetown University and a degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He was chief of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Bon Secours Hospital and was also the hospital's director of medical education.

Dr. William P. Englehart, a retired Baltimore obstetrician-gynecologist who delivered the nation's fourth "test tube baby" nearly 30 years ago, died Sept. 22 of heart failure at Oak Crest Village retirement community. The former resident of Phoenix in Baltimore County was 90. "The patients loved the ground that man walked on. They always came first. His patients and physicians who studied under him will long remember Bill Englehart," said Dr. Ronald G. Peterson, a retired obstetrician-gynecologist who had been a partner in Dr. Englehart's practice.

Dr. Andres Cruz Gomez, a retired physician and former chief anesthesiologist in obstetrics and gynecology at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, died of heart failure there Tuesday. He was 78 and a resident of Delmar. Dr. Gomez was born and raised in Manila, one of eight children of a prosperous landowner whose property was confiscated by the Japanese, who occupied the Philippines during World War II. Dr. Gomez, then a youth, eluded capture by the Japanese military. "A friend warned him that the Japanese soldiers were looking for him and he was able to hide," said a daughter, Michele Gomez of Baltimore.

Dr. Robert M. Barnett, an expert in gynecology for older women who was known for his pioneering work in developing telescopic techniques, died of a heart attack Tuesday at his home in Timonium. He was 66.The former head of obstetrics and gynecology at Harbor Hospital Center in South Baltimore treated more than 5,000 patients during his 29-year career at the hospital. His work in telescopics is credited with reducing the need for abdominal surgery.Several patients remember him as a great friend.

A majority of the nation's obstetricians and gynecologists -- almost 78 percent -- have been sued for malpractice at least once in their careers, a new national study shows.That figure has gone up nearly 10 percent since 1987 and is now at an all-time high, said officials of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). The average ob-gyn has been sued three times.The statistics do not mean "that 78 percent [of ob-gyns] are bad docs, though we are the first to admit there are bad doctors," ACOG president-elect Richard Schwarz said last week.

Dr. Hugh McNally, obstetrician and professor, diesA Mass of Christian burial for Dr. Hugh B. McNally, former chief of obstetrics at St. Joseph Hospital and other area hospitals, will be offered at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Stella Maris Hospice Chapel, 2300 Dulaney Valley Road, Timonium.Dr. McNally died yesterday at his home in the 2300 block of Killoran Road in Timonium, after battling cancer for several months. He was 83.A Baltimore native, he was educated at Calvert Hall College and received his bachelor of science degree from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, followed by a degree from the School of Medicine in 1934.

Dr. Edward Henderson Richardson Jr., a retired gynecologist and women's urologist who was an accomplished photographer, died Thursday of pneumonia at his home in Roland Park Place. The longtime Ruxton resident was 98. Dr. Richardson, who was the son of a gynecologist and a homemaker, was raised at 9 E. Chase St., which eventually became his office, and moved in 1925 with his family to Guilford. After graduating in 1930 from Gilman School, he earned a bachelor's degree from Princeton University in 1934.