Stapleton died on Friday of natural causes at her home in New York City, film and television director John Putch said in a written statement released to Reuters.

The actress won three Emmys for her role as the long-suffering wife of loud-mouthed bigot Archie Bunker, played by the late Carroll O'Connor, in the hit TV sitcom.

Stapleton appeared in "All In The Family" from 1971 to 1979, and continued her role for a time in the 1979 spinoff show "Archie Bunker's Place."

The New York-born Stapleton had a lifelong love of the theater, and her stage roles after "All In the Family" included a part in a 1987 Broadway revival of the play "Arsenic and Old Lace."

In 1990, she received the Village Voice newspaper's Obie Award for her performances in Harold Pinter's plays "Mountain Language" and "The Birthday Party."

After spending a number of years living and working in Los Angeles, Stapleton returned to New York in 2002 to live permanently.

She is survived by her son, John Putch, and her daughter, television producer Pamela Putch. Her husband, William Putch, died in 1983.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis and Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Peter Cooney)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lois Lerner, the Internal Revenue Service official at the center of a scandal about the targeting of conservative groups for extra tax scrutiny, plans to assert her constitutional right not to answer questions from a congressional committee on Wednesday.

"She has not committed any crime or made any misrepresentation but under the circumstances she has no choice but to take this course," Lerner's attorney, William Taylor, wrote on Monday to the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that is holding hearings into the IRS scandal.

Chairman Darrell Issa, a California Republican, has accused Lerner of providing "false or misleading" information to Congress about the IRS' treatment of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.

At least three congressional committees and the Department of Justice are investigating the IRS targeting.

Lerner's refusal to testify may only heighten interest over exactly which IRS workers in a Cincinnati, Ohio, office created partisan criteria, including search terms like "Tea Party" and "Patriots," to select certain groups' applications for special scrutiny.

Congressional investigators have said Lerner, the chief of the IRS tax-exempt unit, was the Washington-based official who learned in June 2011 that workers in a Cincinnati, Ohio, office were using such criteria and directed them changed.

Top IRS officials, however, have said they did not learn of the practice until nearly a year later.

Lerner also broke open the scandal by apologizing for the activity at an American Bar Association conference on May 10, in response to a planted question.

Lawmakers have criticized that disclosure strategy, and the White House and Treasury Department have said their staff were consulted. A Treasury spokesman said the decision it was ultimately up to IRS.

The rising political storm over the IRS has undercut President Barack Obama's second-term agenda as the president tries to negotiate a budget deal with Republicans and push a comprehensive immigration reform bill through Congress.

A report released May 14 by a Treasury Department internal watchdog said that for roughly 18 months starting in March of 2010, unnamed IRS workers in Cincinnati used the "inappropriate criteria." It also found that the criteria were changed back to include partisan terms in January 2012 after the office was ordered to stop using them in June 2011.

SUBPOENA

IRS spokesman Dean Patterson did not immediately have a comment on Lerner's status at the agency. Outgoing acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller told the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday that there were ongoing discussions about discipline for Lerner.

Lerner has secured a high-powered Washington lawyer in Taylor, of the firm Zuckerman Spaeder LLP. The law firm's website cites Taylor's experience with "high-profile civil and criminal matters, often under intense media scrutiny."

He defended Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, against criminal charges related to a sexual assault accusation. The criminal charges were dismissed, and a related civil suit was settled.

Issa's committee on May 17 issued a subpoena to compel Lerner to testify at the hearing on Wednesday, the third such hearing in less than a week since the scandal first erupted.

Taylor said he had advised Lerner to assert her Fifth Amendment right in part due to allegations made by Issa that she had provided false and misleading information on four separate occasions last year.

The Fifth Amendment provides individuals with protection against self-incrimination.

Issa spokesman Ali Ahmad said in a statement on Tuesday that "Chairman Issa remains hopeful that she will ultimately decide to testify tomorrow about her knowledge of outrageous IRS targeting of Americans for their political beliefs."

OTHER OFFICIALS GRILLED

During the Senate panel hearing on Tuesday, top IRS officials testified they were unaware for nearly two years of the agency's targeting of conservative groups and did not deliberately mislead lawmakers about the practice.

Exasperated senators repeatedly asked former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, who led the agency from 2008 to 2012, and outgoing acting IRS chief Miller why they did not reveal the practice earlier. Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah accused Miller of a "lie by omission."

In his first public statements on the growing scandal, Shulman told a Senate hearing he did not have "the full set of facts" about the targeting until the watchdog report was released last week. Miller, who testified at a House of Representatives hearing last week, told Hatch sharply that "I did not lie, sir."

(Reporting By Kim Dixon; Writing by Karey Van Hall; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Kings are taking a much more tension-filled route toward the Stanley Cup finals this year than the squad that came out of nowhere in 2012 to steamroll their way to a maiden championship.

The Kings survived Tuesday's do-or-die Game Seven by holding off the visiting San Jose Sharks in a 2-1 nail-biter that put Los Angeles back in the Western Conference finals for a second consecutive year.

It was the kind of challenge the Kings never faced during their remarkable 2012 playoff run when they practically breezed to the Cup title as an eighth seed that grabbed a 3-0 lead in each best-of-seven series and went 16-4 in the postseason.

The Kings never faced an elimination game during last year's remarkable run, yet this year's squad seems to be enjoying their current march just as much even though they fell behind early in the opening round before being pushed to the limit by San Jose in the second round.

"Our backs were against the wall, it's us or them, and that's what hockey players like," veteran wing Justin Williams told reporters after scoring both goals in the Kings' victory, giving him nine points in four career Game Sevens.

"(You want) a chance to show up for your team when it's do or die. We have confidence, I guess knowing that we've been there before."

Williams embodies some of the team's toughness that may have been overlooked during the last campaign when everything seemed to come easily.

The 31-year-old Williams has dealt with several injuries over the years and was mired in an eight-game goal drought before coming through with the season on the line.

Then there is goaltender Jonathan Quick, last year's Conn Smythe Trophy winner as most valuable player of the playoffs, who is further spreading his reputation by thriving through more adversity in these playoffs.

The Kings fell behind 2-0 in their best-of-seven first-round series against St. Louis before their netminder kicked things into another gear.

Quick has three shutouts during the playoffs, and his 25-save effort in the decider against the Sharks was worthy of a highlight reel.

When asked what made the difference in the Kings' tight series against San Jose, Los Angeles center Anze Kopitar got straight to the point.

"Our goaltender," he said. "He pulled some saves off that kept us in the lead."

Added San Joe Sharks coach Todd McLellan: "We couldn't find a way to get another puck by Quick. Trust me, it wasn't because we weren't bearing down."

Los Angeles has certainly been bearing down at their home Staples Center - another distinct difference between the 2012 run - where they have now won 14 consecutive games, including seven straight in the playoffs.

A year ago, the Kings were road warriors as they set an NHL record by winning their first 10 post-games away from home.

Nothing appears the same for the fifth-seeded Kings, except for their confidence level as they pursue a second straight championship banner.

"The way we're built, we've been together and have dealt with adversity," said winger Dustin Brown, whose Kings await the winner of Wednesday's Game Seven between Detroit and Chicago.

"We're comfortable."

(Editing by Frank Pingue)

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Humor may not always translate well, but Jon Stewart is picking up millions of fans in China, where his gloves-off political satire is refreshing for many in a country where such criticism is a rarity - especially when directed at their own leaders.

A recent segment on North Korea scored over 4 million views on microblogger Sina Weibo, and even stodgy state broadcaster CCTV has used Stewart's "The Daily Show" in a report, though they wouldn't let a Chinese version of him near their cameras.

Recent popular sequences have included one in which Stewart lampooned the Chinese hackers who hacked into the New York Times computer system earlier this year, wondering if that was the best they could do.

But far from squelching Stewart, CCTV even used one of his sequences on Guantanamo Bay to criticize Obama in a regular broadcast - a move widely derided by netizens.

In China, however, such criticism tends not to be welcomed by the government. Dissident artist Ai Weiwei, who regularly criticizes the government for what he sees as its flouting of the rule of law and human rights, was detained for 81 days in 2011, sparking an international outcry.

"There's nothing like political satire here," said David Moses, who studies and writes about Chinese humor.

Though the exact timing of Stewart's entrance to China is unclear, many have been watching him for four or five years, mainly through the Internet and Weibo.

"Being a journalist, you have to find out the truth," said Mao Moyu, a Shanghai journalism student who got hooked on Stewart four years ago.

"If there's ... something that hurts the public interest you have to stand out, no matter how sharp the thing is. You have to stand out and say that's not right."

Part of Stewart's popularity is that he seems cool to young people in love with all things foreign, but a thirst for satire that is not afraid to show its face contributes too, Moses said.

The closest thing that exists in China is coded references and puns that tweak official pronouncements or sound like obscenities.

"That's just shooting a finger at the government. But this is full-fledged jokes and routines about North Korea or about China and trade...It's just what they wish they could do here," Moses said.

Free translations into Chinese by Stewart's fans have boosted his popularity. In fact, one - known as Gu Da Bai Hua - now even has his own fan base.

China's thirst for foreign satire is so great that Stewart is not the only popular U.S. comic. Some Chinese say they prefer rival television satirist Stephen Colbert - although humor may not be the only issue at stake.

"I think I like Stephen Colbert's pronunciation more because it's much clearer for me," said Shanghai student Peng Cheng.

(Editing by Elaine Lies and Michael Perry)

The right-hander grimaced after throwing a changeup to Brian McCann, the sixth batter he faced, with one out in the second inning Friday night.

Strasburg retired McCann on a grounder and struck out Dan Uggla to end the inning.

Craig Stammen relieved Strasburg to begin the third. Strasburg, who left with a 2-1 lead, allowed two hits and one run a homer by Freddie Freeman with no walks and two strikeouts.

The Nationals did not immediately announce why Strasburg's night ended so soon. He threw 23 of 37 pitches for strikes.

Washington shut down Strasburg on Sept. 7 last season to limit the workload on his surgically repaired arm, keeping him out of the NL playoffs. The top pick in the 2009 amateur draft, he underwent elbow ligament-replacement surgery on Sept. 10, 2010.

The 24-year-old Strasburg was making his 12th start of the season. He began the night 3-5 with a 2.49 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 72 1-3 innings.

After getting off to a slow start this year, Strasburg was 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA in his previous three starts.

"Today's report is a powerful reminder that our nation's most difficult fiscal problems have not been solved," said Concord Coalition Executive Director Robert L. Bixby. "Social Security and Medicare are not self-financed. Both programs draw heavily on general revenues to meet their commitments. As the population ages and the number of beneficiaries steadily increases, the strain on general revenues will grow, squeezing out other federal programs and putting upward pressure on taxes."

"With budget negotiations at an impasse, it is imperative that lawmakers recognize the dangers of inaction," Bixby said. "Negotiations must resume on a fiscal sustainability plan."

While attention routinely focuses on the dates at which the Social Security and Medicare Part A (HI) trust funds will become insolvent, the more relevant information for the budget is the amount of general revenues needed to make the benefit payments promised by law.

In today's report, the trustees project that Social Security will be "solvent" until the year 2033 and Medicare HI until 2026 -- meaning that these trust funds will possess sufficient budget authority (i.e., Treasury bonds) to cover benefits until those dates. However, trust fund solvency says nothing about fiscal sustainability.

The trust funds are a matter of internal bookkeeping. They show how much one arm of the government owes to another. The cash flows, however, demonstrate the programs' budgetary impact, and by this measure Social Security and Medicare HI are already running deficits. Medicare Parts B and D (SMI) are not in "deficit" because they have an open pipeline to the Treasury for roughly 75 percent of their expenditures. Premiums paid by beneficiaries cover just 25 percent.

To illustrate the point, the trustees include a table contrasting the trust fund perspective versus the budgetary perspective of the programs' operations in 2012. According to this table, the combined general revenue subsidy for Medicare and Social Security totaled $403 billion. A portion of this ($112 billion) can be attributed to the Social Security payroll tax cut that has now expired, but an underlying upward trend in general revenue subsidies is indicated by the trustees' projections. The table is available .

The budgetary impact of these subsidies cannot be ignored. They underscore the structural imbalance in current fiscal policy and why caps on annual appropriations (discretionary spending) or current revenue levels will not be enough to put the budget on a sustainable path.

As stated by the trustees: "In the past, general fund and interest payments for Medicare and Social Security were relatively small. These amounts have increased substantially over the last 2 decades, however, and the expected rapid future growth of Medicare and Social Security will make their interaction with the federal budget increasingly important."

"For many years," Bixby says, "through Republican and Democratic administrations alike, the trustees have warned that legislative actions are needed to put Social Security and Medicare on a sustainable basis. And for just as many years, lawmakers of both parties have ignored these warnings."

It is true that the trustees' recent projections have shown a less dramatic outlook for Medicare, in part from changes enacted in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). However, the trustees make the point again in this year's report that under an alternative projection that assumes, with good reason, that the payment formulas embedded in the ACA become difficult to sustain, Medicare costs could be 40 percent higher over the projection period.

Yet this year's report also updates it projections in light of the recent slowdown in health care inflation. This slowdown, which most health care economists attribute to both the recession and to more fundamental changes in the health care system, led the trustees to lower their alternative projections for Medicare costs by 0.5 percent of GDP in the year 2040, about 7 percent less than last year.

"Whether this unambiguously good news about the slowdown in health care inflation continues will depend on the willingness of Congress and the health care system to go along with the changes taking place, to continue with the ACA's cost controls and spending targets, and to enact further reforms, doubling down on changes with the greatest potential to succeed," said Concord Coalition Policy Director Joshua Gordon.

Furthermore, even with this overall slowdown in health care costs, the aging of the population helps drive Medicare costs to increase by 67 percent from 2012 to 2040 (from 3.65 percent of GDP to 6.07 percent under the most optimistic of the trustees' alternative scenarios).

Earlier this month the Congressional Budget Office projected declining deficits through 2015, leading some people to believe that the nation's fiscal challenges had largely been met. But this overlooks the longer-term difficulties.

"The trustees report is a good antidote for complacency on the budget," Bixby said. "Despite some progress in the short term, we still need to deal with the long-term structural problems, including those related to Medicare and Social Security. A change in course will require difficult choices and bipartisan compromise."

The Simpson-Bowles and Rivlin-Domenici fiscal reform plans offer model bipartisan approaches, with an array of thoughtful proposals on Social Security and Medicare that deserve careful consideration by elected officials.

It is also encouraging that the budgets proposed by President Obama, House Republicans and Senate Democrats this year all include at least some measures to curb cost growth in Medicare. None of these budgets, however, effectively addresses Social Security reform.

"We urge Congress to quickly get started on budget negotiations, ideally aiming for a comprehensive fiscal reform plan that would include measures to put Medicare and Social Security on sustainable paths," Bixby said. "The trustees report shows why entitlement reform is essential to protecting the interests of Americans of all ages."

The Concord Coalition is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to fiscal responsibility. Since 1992, Concord has worked to educate the public about the causes and consequences of the federal deficit and debt, and to develop realistic solutions for sustainable budgets. For more fiscal news and analysis, visitand follow us on Twitter:

SOURCE The Concord Coalition

In a victory for the protesters, an Istanbul court later ordered the temporary suspension of the project to uproot the trees. But demonstrators around the country kept up protests denouncing what they called a heavy-handed crackdown and a government seen as displaying increasingly authoritarian tendencies.

Police took action on the fourth day of the sit-in against a government plan to revamp Taksim square. Officers clashed with angry demonstrators in surrounding areas, firing tear gas canisters and pushing people back with water cannon. A cloud of smoke from the gas filled the square and scattered protests continued into the night.

In solidarity with protesters in Istanbul, some 5,000 people gathered at a park in the capital, Ankara, swelling into a busy street nearby. They chanted anti-government slogans and called on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to resign. Police used tear gas to push back a group that tried to march toward the Parliament building.

Protests were also held in a dozen other cities, including one that drew thousands in the third-largest city of Izmir, reports said.

The Istanbul protesters were demanding the square's Gezi Park be protected from plans that include the construction of a shopping mall. Many also aired grievances against Erdogan, whose style has become increasingly uncompromising during his government's third successive term.

Last week, the government enacted a law restricting the sale and advertising of alcohol, a move that has alarmed secular Turks.

Earlier this week, the government went ahead with a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of a disputed third bridge across the Bosporus Strait that some say will destroy the few remaining green areas of the sprawling city. It also named the bridge after a controversial Ottoman sultan believed to have ordered a massacre of a minority Shiite Muslim group, instead of choosing a more unifying figure.

Protesters in Gezi Park held up a large poster Friday with a caricature depicting Erdogan as an Ottoman sultan with a caption that read: "The people won't yield to you."

Protester Serdar Sanman accused Erdogan of "trying to install his dictatorship."

Erdogan's Islamic-rooted, conservative government has a strong support base in the mainly Muslim but secular country, and many of the protesters appeared to be from more secular-leaning sections of society.

In Ankara, demonstrators held up posters reading: "Don't Interfere in my Lifestyle" and "Resist the Dictator." Many drank beer and other alcoholic beverages during the protest in defiance of the alcohol restrictions, raising their drinks as they chanted "Cheers Tayyip!" They lined the pavement with empty beer and liquor bottles and cans.

Erdogan this week dismissed the Istanbul protesters' demands, saying the government would go ahead with the renovation plans "no matter what they do." The forestry minister said more trees would be planted than those uprooted at Gezi.

The dawn raid was the latest in a series of aggressive crackdown on protests. Human rights activists frequently accuse Turkish police of using inordinate force to break up protests and of excessively using tear gas and pepper spray against protesters.

Interior Minister Muammer Guler said that authorities would investigate the reports of disproportionate use of force. Still, he defended the crackdown, saying officers were carrying out their duties against an illegal occupation of the park.

In Istanbul, several protesters were injured when a wall they climbed on collapsed during a police chase, and at least two people including a journalist were hit in the head by tear gas canisters. Two opposition legislators were among several hospitalized after being affected by the gas, the private Dogan news agency reported.

Istanbul Gov. Huseyin Avni Mutlu said 12 people were treated in hospitals for injuries and least 13 people were detained.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. was concerned about the number of people injured as police dispersed protesters.

"We believe that Turkey's long-term stability, security and prosperity is best guaranteed by upholding the fundamental freedoms of expression, assembly and association, which is what it seems these individuals were doing," she told reporters. "These freedoms are crucial to any healthy democracy."

Psaki said the U.S. was still gathering information about the incident.

There was very little coverage of the protests on television channels in Turkey, reflecting the environment of self-censorship by the media, which has, among other things, been pressured into dismissing staff too critical of the government.

The media rights group Reporters without Borders said the injured journalist, Ahmet Sik, and others were deliberately targeted by police and urged Turkish authorities to halt the "excessive" use of force. A Reuters photographer was also injured.

Amnesty International also deplored what it called Turkish police brutality and said some officers should be brought to justice.

Demonstrators affected by tear gas sought shelter at a luxury hotel at Taksim and were tended by guests. Police removed tents and the demonstrators' belongings and mounted barricades around the park.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said 15 demonstrators were detained in Ankara.

"The people are demonstrating against the government's intolerance toward demonstrations," said Metin Feyzioglu, who heads Turkey's lawyers' association, during the protest in Ankara. "The government must display understanding and immediately stop the violence against the demonstrators."

_____

Fraser reported from Ankara.

That verdict from the first randomized clinical trial to study the issue has implications for global guidelines on stockpiling drugs for a potential flu pandemic, researchers said on Friday.

"Our findings do not support routine use of double doses to treat severe flu infections, which could help to conserve drug stocks in the event of a pandemic," said Jeremy Farrar, director of the South East Asia Infectious Disease Clinical Research Network.

Flu experts are on alert for a potential pandemic, with concerns centered on the new H7N9 strain of bird flu that has killed 36 people in China.

So far H7N9 has not been able to spread easily from person to person and cases of the disease are receding, although experts are concerned that H7N9 may be able to develop resistance to Tamiflu rapidly.

Previous studies have shown that early treatment with Tamiflu, known generically as oseltamivir, helps speed recovery in seasonal and pandemic flu. It also improves survival in patients hospitalized by the virus, leading some health authorities to recommend double doses in bad cases.

Results of the latest Tamiflu study were published in the British Medical Journal, following a study of 326 patients with severe flu infection in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam who were given either a standard dose or double dose of the drug for five days.

The researchers found no difference in virus levels or clinical outcomes between the treatment groups.

The study, which took place between April 2007 and February 2010, was funded by the Wellcome Trust, U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the Singapore National Medical Research Council.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Greg Mahlich)

(Reuters) - The San Antonio Spurs can only watch, wait and practice until their NBA Finals opponent is decided and they can return to action after a nine-day break.

The Western Conference champions will play the winner of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals, led 3-2 by the Miami Heat over the Indiana Pacers, when the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship series begins June 6.

"Too much rest? Sure there's concern," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich told reporters after practice on Thursday. "What are you going to do? You do your best."

The long hiatus is a byproduct of San Antonio's efficiency in dispatching the Memphis Grizzlies in a four-game sweep of the West final that concluded on Monday.

Tim Duncan, a stalwart of all four Spurs NBA titles during his 16 seasons in San Antonio, said he and his teammates are naturally keeping an eye on the Miami-Indiana series.

"Just trying to pick up a little on either squad," Duncan told reporters. "Just trying to find anybody's rhythm I can, see how they play, see what they do and just get a rhythm."

Point guard extraordinaire Tony Parker, who leads the Spurs in points and assists during the postseason, said he was not worried about rust settling in.

"I don't even think about it. It is what it is," the Frenchman said. "It's going to be a very good team that we're playing. Indiana and Miami two very good teams."

If the defending NBA champion Heat advance, the opening game will be in Miami. Should Indiana pull off the upset, homecourt advantage would swing to the Spurs, who would host the opener of the best-of-seven finals.

"It doesn't really matter," insisted Parker. "At that stage of the competition you have to win on the road if you want to go all the way."

While the Spurs say they do not care about the foe, they are passionate about getting to hoist the championship trophy again for the first time in six years.

"This one is very special," said Parker. "There are a lot of emotions. Obviously, because it's been a long time to go back and with the same Big Three and Pop, makes it very special."

Duncan, as a second-year power forward, partnered with center David Robinson for the Spurs' first title in 1999, and went on to triumph with Parker and swingman Manu Ginobili of Argentina in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

A resurgence by the 37-year-old, 6-foot-11 Duncan and a stunning season by Parker helped bring the Spurs back.

Duncan has found a new bounce in his step after losing some 25 pounds (11.3 kg)

"Just getting older, trying to take a load off my knee," Duncan said. "I used to play at about 255, 260 and I'm about 235 right now.

"The last couple of years my game has declined and changed and I wasn't ready to let it go."

Duncan, a 14-time All Star and three-time NBA Finals MVP, averaged 17.8 points this season and was named to the All-NBA First Team after slipping to 15.4 and 13.4 points per game the previous two seasons.

Popovich said he had challenged Parker this year to play like an NBA All Star every night, and he had met the challenge.

Asked if he had challenged Duncan, the coach joked: "I haven't talked to Tim in about six or seven years."

Popovich said Duncan had a special drive to succeed.

"The greatest players have that drive," he said. "There are about eight or 10 of them in this modern era starting with Magic (Johnson) and (Larry) Bird and Michael (Jordan) that have unbelievable character and professionalism.

"And the do it longer and they do it at a high level because it's just how they're built with that competitiveness and heart and feel the responsibility of their teammates."

(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)

(Photo: )

Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. publishes its list of Castle Connolly Top Doctors at , as well as in a wide variety of printed directories, partner publications and on partner/affiliate websites including US News and World Report's annually updated list of "Top Doctors." All told, fewer than 35,000 physicians - less than 5% of the nation's licensed physicians - have been selected as Castle Connolly Top Doctors in their regions for their specialties.

Castle Connolly Top Doctors are selected by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. after being nominated by peer physicians in an online nomination process. Nominations are open to all board certified MDs and DOs and each year tens of thousands of doctors cast many tens of thousands of nominations. Honorees are selected from the nominees by the Castle Connolly physician-led research team based on criteria including their medical education, training, hospital appointments, disciplinary histories and more.

About Lesley Anderson:a short profile by and about the honoree:

Dr Anderson is a board certified, fellowship trained specialist in complex knee and shoulder problems and has practiced at CPMC since 1985. She has a special interest in cartilage replacement and restoration and treating knee ligament injuries. She has been listed in Castle-Connelly's "America's Top Doctors" yearly from 2000-present. She has offices in San Francisco and Marin County. She treats the gamut of teenage ACL injuries up through total joint replacement. She also is a national speaker on the uses of PRP in orthopedic patients.

For more information on this Castle Connolly Top Doctor, please visit Lesley Anderson's profile on

Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.'s President and CEO Dr. John Connolly has this to say about Dr. Anderson's recognition: "Only a small percent of physicians are selected to be Castle Connolly Top Doctors. Our goal is to make it easier for an average person to find the right doctor for them in what can be an overwhelming process at a difficult time in a person's life. Dr. Anderson was nominated by Board Certified peers and selected by our research team at Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. Selection is an impressive accomplishment worthy of recognition. My congratulations to Dr. Anderson."

To find out more or to contact Dr.Lesley Anderson of San Francisco,CA, please call 415-923-3029, or visit .

This press release was written by American Registry, LLC and Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., with approval by and/or contributions from Lesley Anderson and was distributed by PR Newswire, a subsidiary of UBM plc.

Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. identifies top doctors in America and provides consumers with detailed information about their education, training and special expertise in printed guides and online directories. It is important to note that doctors do not and cannot pay to be included in any Castle Connolly guide or online directory. Learn more at .

American Registry, LLC, recognizes excellence in top businesses and professionals. For more information, search The Registry at

Contact Information:Dr.Lesley AndersonPhone: 415-923-3029Email Address:

SOURCE American Registry