1.   Consumer advocates say some HMOs try to fatten their profits by selectively recruiting healthy beneficiaries and shunning sicker patients.

2.   Dying patients were shunned and abused.

3.   Feldman said that, too often, doctors and other health-care workers shun patients like Jenny because they view them as deceitful and evil.

4.   HMO executives deny that the organizations shun sick patients.

5.   In addition, the cuts have forced some agencies out of business and caused others to shun sicker patients with more expensive needs.

6.   Pickett, the former CMA president, said capitation rewards doctors for shunning sick patients who need them most.

7.   Those patients were once shunned because reimbursement for their care was so low, but they are now considered a reasonable source of income.

8.   Another problem in rural areas is that many doctors shun AIDS patients.