Letters to the Editor
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‘Support and Solidarity’
The six New York Democrats who voted against a House bill extending “support and solidarity” to Cuban dissidents in their fight for human rights have scored a new low in the race to the bottom of the Orwellian barrel [“Anger Simmers Among Cubans Over N.Y. Pols,” Meghan Clyne, Page 1, May 17, 2005].
Rep. Charles Rangel is upset that his own government refuses to give the Castro government “the respect that it deserves.” Mr. Rangel’s characterization of Cuban dissidents, who risk life and limb in their courageous fight against Castro’s murderous regime, as “insurgents,” is both bizarre and morally bankrupt. “Insurgents” is, of course, the media’s agreed upon term for the suicidal fanatics who have been killing Iraqi civilians and U.S. Marines for the past two years.
Good thing for the brave and freedom-loving Nelson Mandela, who was visiting President Bush at the White House recently, that he wasn’t in a Cuban jail for all those long years – or else he would have been labeled an “insurgent” by Mr. Rangel, and today he would still be rotting in a prison cell.
PETER MELHADO
Manhattan
‘The Poison in the Pill’
In Nick Gillespie’s review of Katherine Eban’s expose of the pharmaceutical drug trade, “Dangerous Doses,” he errs with respect to the state of the law regarding counterfeit medications [“The Poison in the Pill,” Arts & Letters, May 17, 2005].
Mr. Gillespie writes of relief that, as a result of the extraordinary efforts of a group of Florida investigators, their actions “helped tighten federal and state laws concerning ‘pedigree’ papers and who could become wholesalers.”
In fact, while Florida law has been strengthened due to the work of this small handful of outstanding public servants, there has been no change in federal law with respect to protecting us from counterfeit medications. And since wholesalers are licensed by the states, not the federal government, that remains a big problem.
As a result, on May 9, Rep. Steven Israel introduced Tim Fagan’s Law into Congress, which would increase criminal penalties for counterfeiters, give the FDA more investigatory powers, allow for recalls, and mandate the implementation of pedigree paper laws that force distributors to disclose prior owners of the drugs they are trading in. Thus far, the pharmaceutical industry has stalled the full implementation of the pedigree law for 17 years.
Mr. Fagan, a New Yorker for whom the law is named (and who I am honored to represent), was 16 years old at the time he had a life-saving liver transplant. Thereafter, he was injected with some of the counterfeit Epogen that Ms. Eban traces in her book through the gray market of secondary wholesalers as it made its way to his pharmacy. Since that pharmacy is currently the largest pharmacy chain in the country, and since the wholesaler they bought the drugs from is also one of the largest companies in America, it would be wrong to believe that we are safe.
Readers of the review should not be left with the impression that our federal laws are now better at safeguarding our medicine than they were five years ago. They are not.
ERIC TURKEWITZ
The Turkewitz Law Firm
Manhattan
Alicia for Mayor
I never miss reading Alicia Colon’s column, and her latest, on pro-choice groups and women [“Pro-Choice Groups and Women,” New York, May 17, 2005] is typical. Ms. Colon never disappoints. Her clear-minded reporting and commentary are priceless, especially when she ventures into areas that are “owned” by the Anna Quindlens and Ellen Goodmans of the world.
Ms. Colon is equally good when she’s writing about the city we love. I hope she will continue to write for The New York Sun, but is there any chance that she would consider running for mayor?
SARAH GALLICK
Manhattan
‘Transit Authority’
Re: “Transit Authority,” New York, May 13, 2005. So let me get this straight: There are no toll collectors on the George Washington Bridge between 11 p.m. and 6:30 a.m., but if you travel across the bridge between 11 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. and don’t pay the collector, you’re slapped with a large fine.
What better proof that Mayor Bloomberg’s New York is Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil”?
LINDA STEWART
Manhattan
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