61. Since the debate began, there have been nonstop arguments over how often this specific procedure is used, and whether it is ever medically necessary. 62. Smith said officers used standard procedures in securing the home, ordering those in it to get on the ground and handcuffing them. 63. State health officials in New Jersey said there was no data available to determine how often, if at all, the procedure was used within the state. 64. Southwest Airlines has mailed a highly unusual memo to all of its pilots at their homes admonishing them for a growing complacency in using safe procedures. 65. Such hearings are rare, but citizen groups have used the procedure to stop unwanted projects. 66. That led to a series of hearings in which defense lawyers questioned police and prosecutors about how long and how frequently they had used the procedure. 67. The airlines said the refusal by pilots to use the procedure added substantially to delays at airports in Chicago and Boston. 68. The bill, if it becomes law, would expose doctors who use the procedure to criminal and civil penalties. 69. The company hopes to use the procedure, which has never been done on humans, to create specialized cells for new medical treatments. 70. The decision of which procedure to use, they said, is best left to the doctor and the patient, not Congress. |