French surgeons call off London protest:

London will not be playing host to the mutinous French surgeons next week after all (see Clinica No 1120, p 4) as the French government has hurriedly acquiesed to a series of its demands It has agreed to set aside E60m ($74m), equivalent to E15,000 for each surgeon, to pay for an increase in surgical procedure tariffs which will apply from October 1. It will also commit the sickness insurance association to part-finance a higher share of the surgeons' escalating insurance costs, a measure costing some E20m. Further discussions concerning the contractual arrangements between the surgeons and the French healthcare service will be held in the autumn.