Health and happiness at Harvard

A lot of students complain about the University Health Services, but very few have as much reason to do so as Mary E. Munch '80, who went to UHS in December and was sent home with what they diagnosed as influenza. The real reason for her vomiting and severe nausea, it turned out, was her appendix, which burst while she was flying home to Denver for Christmas break.

In February, Munch returned to UHS with more stomach problems: ulcerated colitis, a complication arising from the burst appendix. She did not enter the infirmary this time either, although it isn't clear how much she really wanted to do so.

Munch's father, an associate dean of the University of Colorado law school, is suing UHS for malpractice.

Maybe you should remember this the next time a doctor at the walk-in clinic tells you to quit belly-aching.