Dear Flownetters

It has come to our attention that there has been a deliberate misuse of our
list UVM Flownet.  This violation was a deliberate commercial attack on the
reputation of one medical equipment vendor by the paid representative of
another.  Not only was this unethical but it was a violation of the spirit
of the Flownet list.

On September 17 a posting was made to the list by Norman Middleton, a
distributor for Parks Electronics.  The opinion expressed was attributed to
Debbie Pirt of the Western Pennsylvania Hospital.  Ms. Pirt is not a member
of Flownet.  Her opinion was not solicited by the Flownet community and she
was appalled to learn that her comments had been distributed over the list
without her knowledge or permission.  We feel that this was a blatant abuse
and dishonest.  Accordingly, we have felt it necessary to sanction the
actions of Mr. Middleton and have elected to remove him from the list for 6
months.

This list is intended as an academic adjunct for the professionals in the
field of vascular technology/surgery.  Any deviation from this mission will
not be tolerated. We will not allow the good reputation of the University of
Vermont to be sullied by selfish interests.  Since we do not have the
resources to edit the posting of the list's members and the idea of
censorship is distasteful to us, we would prefer that subscribers adhere to
our non-commercial policy.  Our only remaining alternative would be to
discontinue the list.

At this time I would like to remind all members posting comments to adhere
to proper etiquette and sign their name at the end of each posting.

Steve Knight RVT

Michael Ricci MD RVT

Co-List owners
UVM Flownet