British judge's ruling that repetitive strain injury -- the fastest growing category of work-related injury in the US -- probably doesn't exist.

High Court Judge John Prosser dismissed a journalist's claim that he had RSI, calling the condition "meaningless'' with "no place in the medical books.'' "There are so many diverse views about RSI that their very existence is a monument to doubt on the subject,'' said the judge.

Journalist Rafiq Mughal, who worked for the Reuters news agency until December, 1989, had argued that pain in his hands caused by typing on a computer keyboard had kept him from working.

But the judge claimed the pain probably stemmed from Mughal's "lack of confidence'' as a copy editor and his feelings of being watched and even victimised by colleagues at work.

The National Union of Journalists, which backed Mughal's claim, expressed disbelief at the judgment.

"The fact is we know of hundreds of people who are suffering real pain and the judge seems to be more or less saying that this pain doesn't exist,'' said a spokesman.

RSI afflicts people who perform repetitive tasks for long period and can cause numbness, pain and disability, usually in the hands and arms.

Reuters, which had offered Mughal the equivalent of $30,000 to settle out of court, were delighted at the decision.

In the US, RSI is an established illness. The increasing number of RSI cases is causing growing concern among insurance companies who stand to lose substantial sums from claims.

* * * BUC The US death care industry is smiling. As baby boomers, most of whom are now in their 40s, grow older they are expected to breathe new life into the industry.

"When the first baby boomer turns 65 in 2010, this will initiate the golden era of the death care industry,'' said a spokesman for Chicago Corporation during a conference on the death care industry.

Anticipating a "rise in demise'', the major players in death care -- a euphemism for funerals, cremations and burials -- have been on an expansion spree for the past few years, buying up independent "Mom and Pop'' funeral homes around the country.

"We're going to see a continuation of consolidation in this industry at a pace that you've never seen before,'' said Mr. Robert Waltrip, chairman and chief executive officer of Service Corporation. "All of a sudden people who operate these small businesses within this industry believe that this is the vogue thing to do.'' Service Corp., the country's largest operator of funeral homes and cemeteries, has bought 314 funeral homes and 51 cemeteries since 1991. It recently picked up a funeral company in Australia.

"The three top companies collectively have five to six percent of the country's funeral homes and performed 13 to 14 percent of the country's funerals in 1992,'' said an industry observer.

While the topic of death may not make for casual chat among many people, a Halloween-week conference on the prospects for investing in death brought out a crowd of some 150 dark-suited executives from the financial and funeral industries.

Delegates were told that the population is aging and the baby boomers -- the oldest of whom are now moving into their 50s -- make up one-third of the US population. That means that the number of people aged 65 or over will double by 2,010.

Mr. Ray Loewen, chairman of Stewart Enterprises, said funeral firms were trying to "take the funereal atmosphere out of funerals.

"Man has had a tremendous determination to be remembered as having been significant,'' he said. "Memorialisation is one of the services of the death industry.''