The researchers hope that publication of their paper will alert physicians to this problem and lead to the identification and treatment of other women so afflicted.

The emergence of the Guidant records could intensify the company's legal problems as well as intensify a broader debate about when manufacturers of heart devices should alert physicians about product risks.

Guidant and other heart device makers, for instance, are updating pacemakers and implantable defibrillators so that they are able to send signals alerting physicians to problems.

Not only was the new system more time consuming, but it also alerted physicians with numerous electronic reminders and alerts that the physicians felt were excessive.

Tender or enlarged inguinal lymph nodes or swelling in the extremities can alert physicians or public health officials to infection.

Therefore, this image could have also been instructive in the sense of alerting physicians to the importance and utility of such tools.

But the doctors who have made the diagnoses . . . are alerting other physicians who treat large numbers of homosexual men to the problem in an effort to help identify more cases and to reduce the delay in offering chemotherapy treatment.

He pioneered forensic dentistry, and was prominent in alerting physicians and others to the reality of the battered baby syndrome.

At that time, Dr. Maron and a colleague, Dr. Robert G. Hauser, urged Guidant to alert physicians about the device defect; the company had known about the defect for three years.

To date, there are a number of initiatives currently underway to enhance FDA's systems for alerting physicians and their patients about the risks associated with prescription drugs.