Letters To The Editor

HEALTH CARE

Don’t get sick on a Sunday

On a recent Sunday, I had a migraine headache. My doctor referred me to a minor emergency clinic, to receive an injection.

At minor emergency, I filled out paperwork and was put into a room. There I sat. My head was pounding and 45 minutes later I had not seen a doctor.

Hoping to get the 30-second injection I needed, I visited a local hospital’s emergency room and filled out more paperwork. While filling out the paperwork, I felt nauseated and was given a wastebasket in which to vomit.

This time, I even got a wrist bracelet. I was again put into a room. Forty-five minutes later, I had not seen a doctor. My head was killing me. No one told me how much longer I would have to sit there, so I went home.

Fortunately for me, I am very seldom sick.

This experience has taught me several things:

Don’t seek medical attention on a Sunday.

Medical facilities are much better at generating paperwork than they are at treating patients.

If you are in pain and go to a medical facility on Sunday, you will fill out paperwork and be put into a room, but you will not actually receive medical care for a long, long time.

I am waiting for a bill for medical services I never received. Charles T. Conrad Spokane

We’d best follow Canada’s lead

I read with interest Frank Bartel’s Oct. 1 column, “Organizations seek single-payer universal health coverage.”

Every developed nation in the world, with the exception of the United States and South Africa, considers health care a basic right and provides for universal health coverage.

On television, in newspapers and in public forums, we often hear that the United States has the best health care system in the world. Yet other countries, such as Canada, Great Britain and Germany, provide better access to health care at lower costs and with better health outcomes.

We would do well to follow Canada’s example of a single-payer system. In spite of U.S. media stories depicting long waits for health care in Canada, studies have shown otherwise: Canadians have better access to care than U.S citizens.

According to David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler, 1994, in their book “The National Health Program Book: A Source Guide for Advocates,” Canadians have a higher annual rate of doctor visits, a higher rate of hospital admissions, a higher average length of stay per hospital patient and a higher rate of immunizations. All this at lower costs and better quality of care.

Not only that, when compared to Americans, Canadians have a longer life expectancy both at birth and at age 65, lower infant mortality and lower maternal mortality.

What are we waiting for? Let’s back a single-payer system of universal coverage for Washington! Molly J. Mitchell Spokane

Initiative 673 makes good sense

It’s time to return health care decisions to where they belong: the consumer, not the insurance company.

That’s why I’ve joined the Patient Choice Coalition in supporting Washington state Initiative 673. This initiative, if passed on Nov. 4, will return common sense and fairness to managed care in several ways.

First, it allows people to keep their doctor even if they change health insurance plans, as long as the doctor agrees to meet the requirements of the health plan, including fee schedules and treatment reviews.

Second, it requires health plans to disclose to consumers how their health premium is being spent, i.e. what percentage is going to actual heath care and how much is allocated to administration, salaries and profits.

It also requires insurance companies to inform patients if their health plan has limitations on referrals to specialists or other restrictions that may prevent them from getting the health care they need.

Insurance companies will argue that giving people choices will cost too much. But it’s important to note that I-673 doesn’t require that every doctor be included in every health plan. All it says is that if you change health plans or employment, you should be able to continue to see your doctor. Some people may take advantage of this option, others may not. The point is, they have a choice.

I-676 puts health care decisions where they belong, with the patient. Yet, it still permits insurance plans to continue to use reasonable managed care practices to contain costs.

It makes sense, without costing dollars and cents. Willis S. Muncey, D.C. Spokane

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Not so fast with aerosol inhaler ban

I am asthmatic. I read in the paper about the support in Congress for a ban on aerosol asthma inhalers. It seems that the only people in Congress who oppose this are the people who actually live with asthma.

When I read this article, I was rather surprised that they picked inhalers first, before more damaging aerosol products like insect repellent. It seems to me that the aerosol in inhalers is not being expelled into the air where it does damage. The aerosol is being inhaled into the body of the person taking the medicine.

I understand that there might be an alternative to the aerosol but also understand that this medicine could be more expensive. Aerosol has worked extremely well for me, far better than any medication I have previously used. I use my inhaler on a regular basis. It is part of my life, and it is important to my well-being.

I care a lot about saving the environment, as many generations of people have abused our natural resources. I believe that the people of this generation have got to take a stand and make a difference in our use of this planet. I just think that banning aerosol inhalers is the wrong step to be taking immediately. Blake T. Walker Spokane

Nethercutt backs lowered air standards

The Clean Air Act protects citizens from air pollution. Air pollution results in unnecessary illness and premature death. As mandated by the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed, and this summer President Clinton signed into law, new health standards for smog and soot - two of the most common and dangerous forms of air pollution.

Our own Rep. George Nethercutt has joined Rep. “Doc” Hastings in support of the Klink/Upton bill that would overturn current EPA standards for smog and soot.

As a medical professional in Spokane, I see firsthand the effects of air pollution. Numerous scientific studies present sound evidence that breathing smog and soot, at levels even below what’s currently allowable, can trigger asthma attacks and exacerbate chronic respiratory conditions.

Spokane particulate (soot) levels exceed current EPA clean air standards on peak pollution days, largely due to grass burning and the use of wood stoves.

Automobile, oil and chemical industries are running a massive campaign to weaken the Clean Air Act under the guise of “modernizing” the law. Nethercutt should stand up against those whose vested interests run counter to the health needs of our citizens. He should represent the citizens of our community by withdrawing his support for the Klink/Upton bill and by standing behind the new EPA clean air standards. Steven R. Laney, M.D Spokane

Sometimes, bicyclists ask for trouble

Re: the recent articles on bicyclists being killed on roadways of Spokane.

I drive every day along Upriver Drive in the Valley to the Washington Water Power Co. area on Mission. Recently, I encountered a bicyclist riding near the designated bike path. This young man was riding his bike down the middle of the 6-inch-wide white line that separates the roadway from the 6- to 7-foot-wide bike path.

I saw the fool and went into the oncoming lane to go around him. As I went around him, I honked to get him to move over. When I looked at him in my rearview mirror, he gave me the finger and continued down the middle of the painted line.

Now, I’m thinking this person a) wants to meet Jesus this afternoon; b) is suicidal; c) is stupid; or d) all of the above.

My 1974 3/4-ton Ford pickup with a canopy and myself on board weighs over 2-1.2 tons. And frankly, I wouldn’t want to pull this fool and his bike out of my radiator.

Unfortunately, the only time we hear about bicyclists like this one is after they’re hit by a motor vehicle. Mike Forster Spokane

Abuse doesn’t belong on back burner

Re: the New York Times article that reported on the results of the study of teenage girls who had been sexually abused (Oct. 1).

Even though the article is inconsistent with its headline, is somewhat misleading and is uneven in its coverage of the two studies, it nevertheless remains an urgent wake-up call to our society that child abuse, both sexual and physical, is not going away.

In 1993, a mental health professional informed me that the childhood sexual abuse rate in adult women was 25 percent. A 1996 article in a social work journal (Social Work with Groups, Vol. 19, No. 1, pages 19-20) puts that figure as high as 30 percent.

Why, then, have welfare reform, the Tiffany Cook controversy and the Lincoln Street Bridge debate for the most part displaced childhood sexual abuse as newsworthy items?

Because many abusers themselves were abused, untreated victims become the next generation of victimizers. It is only through education, the allowing of the survivors to tell their stories and increasing the availability of affordable intervention for survivors and their families that the cycle of abuse can be arrested.

Despite your abbreviated coverage, I thank you for keeping this issue in the public forum. I strongly urge you to continue to present articles on child abuse. Expanded and in-depth coverage would be even more beneficial. Information and education can make a big difference in the lives of many of our citizens. Gail A. Mauer Cheney

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Promise Keepers what U.S. needs

More than a million of America’s men gathered in Washington, D.C., for the Promise Keepers event. They met for the sole purpose of assuming their duties and responsibilities to their wives, children and communities; men returning to role as heads of their families.

The challenge was given to abandon their own selfish interests and properly lead and direct America’s children, our future adult leaders. But where was our president?

President Clinton was a speaker for the day at a gay-lesbian gathering - the first sitting president to ever address such a special interest group, one that is in total conflict with that of the family institution.

Do you suppose that this event was planned to be held simultaneously with the Promise Keepers event?

If the men of America would return to being present in their homes, being involved in the education and training of our children, and maintaining the integrity of the family unit, America could return to the principles and values set apart by those who have gone before us, to establish the Christian country that we proudly proclaim. Rosetta N. Leach Tensed, Idaho

Father Ray is on the right track

Contemporary wisdom tells us that Father Ray in “Nothing Sacred” is right when he ignores sexual sins and buries himself in social work. A longer-range vision is that most of our social problems spring from sexual sin.

A casual approach to sex results in fornication and adultery. These, in turn, lead to divorce, broken families, single-parent children and abusive live-in boyfriends.

Self-centered men and children raised without loving fathers are a major cause of our social problems.

It’s definitely a good work to serve victims of social injustice, no question about it. It is, however, a disservice to ignore the ultimate cause of a degenerate society, as Father Ray seems to be doing. Walt W. Weid Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

Muslim militancy is justified

The headline, “Muslim’s journey to militancy” (Oct. 13) is mild. The media typically identify Muslims as terrorists or militants, but not so for Christians and Jews. The other headline, “Israel favors assassination of Arab terrorists” should be “Israel’s state terrorism favors Arabs’ assassination” because Israel has perennially engaged in terrorism, with the United States as its accomplice.

Leah Rabin, widow of assassinated Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin, recently acknowledged, “I doubt about how much Palestinian terrorism can be uprooted. We were also terrorists once and they did not uproot us, and we went on dealing in terrorist activities.”

Israel’s state terrorism is historic and well-documented:

Over 15,000 Palestinians slaughtered in Lebanese refugee camps in 1982, plus over 50,000 killed by Israel’s war on Lebanon.

Last year in Qana, Lebanon, Israel’s U.S.-funded terror massacred over 100 civilians while under U.N. protection; yet, Shimon Peres lost the election.

Israel’s “death squads” routinely kill and maim “cockroaches” in the occupied-territories. In 1994, Baruch Goldstein massacred worshipers in Hebron’s mosque - no one held responsible.

Any other nation would be condemned, ostracized and denied all aid.

Israeli leaders understand why the “natives” resist. David Ben Gurion once explained, “We took their country,” and said the movie, “Exodus,” was the “best propaganda.” The gullibles are duped, given the “occupied” Congress and White House. S.M. Ghazanfar Moscow, Idaho

Life skills training is parents’ work

Re: Carol Bordeaux’s Oct. 13 rebuttal letter, “Lad would do well to learn life skills.”

It appears Bordeaux missed my point entirely. I am very much in favor of childhood training of life skills. But life skills education has been and always should be the responsibility of the parent(s) and not required curriculum in the schools.

Such things as proper brushing, nutrition, and even supposedly masculine endeavors like car mechanics and household repairs should be taught by the parent(s), as should ironing, sewing and caring for an infant.

Bordeaux implies that my wife and/or mother does all the sewing, cooking, and ironing while I only tend to more traditional male chores. In fact, I sew on buttons, cook, clean, and iron - things I somehow learned outside the classroom. I’m also, along with my wife, helping to raise two sons. My additional academic achievements in calculus, English, economics and chemistry I also credit to the educational system.

Lastly, I’m more than confused about Bordeaux’s reference to “… wife, mother and slave …” I thought slavery was abolished with ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment about 132 years ago - something else I learned in school. Jerry E. Olson Spokane

Our leadership standard hits new low

After all the news about special prosecutors for President Clinton and Vice President Gore, we were treated to a newspaper headline that the president does not have any unusual identifying marks in his genital area. It’s obvious the standards for the presidency have again been lowered.

One might argue our president’s legal woes are merely politics. Unfortunately, that’s no longer convincing. Too much has happened. The scandals ranging from sexual adventures, questionable business dealings, illegal campaign fund raising to influence peddling continue to mount. Stack this up with denials, then changing stories and finally acknowledgment when the scandal gains credibility.

Our country is dealing with a presidential teenager who has not yet found the wisdom of truthfulness and accepting responsibility for his actions or the merit of societal ethics.

Perhaps most distressing is that we citizens seem to accept this as the norm. Frederick W. Ebel Colbert