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Article: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Gaining Attention
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- May 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1994 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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The misshapen face of a child with fetal alcohol syndrome stares
down from a projector screen at a roomful of medical students. Their
lecturer, Thomas Pinckert, opens the course at Georgetown
University's School of Medicine with a message as sobering as the
image behind him.
"More than spina bifida. More than Down's syndrome. More than
anything you're going to learn about. . . . This is a preventable
cause," he said. "But look! It is the most common known cause of
mental retardation."
For most of these students, Pinckert's lecture was the first
detailed exposure to the set of devastating birth defects caused by
drinking during pregnancy. Georgetown is only the second medical
school in ...