NIH doctors may be pressed into service

Some physician-researchers at the National Institutes of Health are rushing off to get fitted for Public Health Service uniforms. Some of the MDs signed on as civilians at NIH, but others chose to be part of the health service and take home a little extra pay. Now, with the possibility of a war on terrorism around the corner, Arthur Lawrence, assistant surgeon general and acting assistant HHS secretary for health, says there may be a role for some of the 6,000 commissioned members of the Public Health Service, from agencies such as NIH and the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has 300 pharmacists on hand. These people may be called on to fill in for war-bound doctors, nurses, and pharmacists.