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The Scientific Program and noon special presentation were extremely well received by the membership at the January 1989 Western Regional Meeting. A summary of all papers that were presented would not be appropriate; however, I would like to highlight some of those papers. The most controversial segment of the program was one dealing with the concept of "Medical Jousting." The initial paper on this subject was presented by Jack Hilger, Tacoma, Wash. Dr Hilger specifically dealt with the issues that one physician may use against another to initiate either unfair competition or even possibly a malpractice suit. Innuendos, unfair comments, and comments to medical personnel that were either inaccurate or untrue have been the bane of interspecialty relations for years. The malpractice carriers have become aware of this because of several recent suits. As a result, most malpractice carriers are now excluding coverage for slander from their malpractice coverage and,