Nation digest 03/09/05

Surgery to remove Clinton's scar tissue

NEW YORK -- Six months after undergoing heart bypass surgery, former president Clinton will return to the hospital this week to have a rare buildup of fluid and scar tissue removed from his chest. "I feel fine," Clinton said Tuesday, adding that he plans to play golf in Florida a day before the operation. Doctors at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, where Clinton is scheduled to have the procedure on Thursday, said the surgery is low-risk. During the procedure, known as a decortication, doctors will remove scar tissue that is pressing down on his left lung. Dr. Craig Smith, who performed the bypass surgery on Clinton in September, said the complication occurs in "a fraction of 1 percent" of cases.

Trial begins in death of 19 illegal immigrants

HOUSTON -- A truck driver accused in the deaths of 19 illegal immigrants crammed into his sweltering tractor-trailer went on trial Tuesday, with a prosecutor calling him the most "heartless, evil" member of the smuggling ring because he didn't help people as they slowly died. Tyrone Williams, 34, could get the death penalty if convicted for his part in the nation's deadliest immigrant-smuggling attempt. Defense attorney Craig Washington told the jury that while his client is guilty of transporting illegal immigrants, he is not responsible for the 19 deaths. Washington said Williams did not speak Spanish and did not understand the immigrants' cries.

Former nurse pleads guilty in hospital deaths

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- A former intensive care nurse accused of contributing to the deaths of critically ill patients pleaded guilty Tuesday to neglect in five deaths during a two-year period. Under a plea deal, Coleen Thompson, 36, could be sentenced to five years in prison for five misdemeanor counts of second-degree abuse or neglect of a vulnerable adult. Thompson is not accused of killing the patients, many of whom were terminally ill. Rather, prosecutors said she sometimes hastened deaths by ignoring doctors' orders or by withholding medications.

Foreign applications to U.S. grad schools down

A new survey shows international interest in studying at American graduate schools declining for the second straight year, a sign of the continued impact of visa delays and growing competition from foreign universities. In a membership survey being released today, the Council of Graduate Schools estimates foreign applications to U.S. graduate programs for the upcoming school year are down 5 percent. That compares with a 28 percent decline in applications last year, the CSG said.