Sometimes businesses need more regulation

The simplistic argument that government-imposed regulations are anti-business dumbfounds me. Does business think it's the only important entity in this community?

When businesses -- insurance companies, for example -- engage in unfair practices such as overcharging customers, then cry "anti-business," that indicates that they want business to have it all their way and to leave the community defenseless against wrongdoing.

For government to protect the interests of the community by imposing needed regulations is no more anti-business than laws against rape and stalking are anti-male.

Since health-insurance costs are being driven skyward by high drug costs, I'm in favor of bringing costs down the way Canada does it. Using its size as clout, the Canadian government bargains with U.S. drug companies and pays substantially less than what Americans pay for those same drugs.

Hawaii should join with those states that want to negotiate discounts with drug manufacturers in that manner.

Giving subsidies or tax credits so the drug companies can get the prices they ask encourages them to overcharge us. Keeping prices down through clubs and other entities complicates things with middlemen. To make it cheap, keep it simple.

Renee Ing

Health insurance needs regulation

So, the officials of Hawaii Medical Service Association, as well as others in the health-insurance industry, do not believe they should be regulated. They say the state insurance commission already regulates them, but that is not the truth.

The only oversight the commission has is to make sure the companies are solvent. The commission has no authority to look at rates, much less assure the public that the increases are justified. When HMSA raises premiums by five times the inflation rate, customers have to take its word that the increase is necessary.

It has been said in testimony before the state Legislature that HMSA has $6 million in reserves. This is the money that HMSA has left after all expenses. Moreover, due to its nonprofit status it does not pay any taxes on this money.

The health-insurance industry needs regulation. The people of Hawaii deserve no less.

George Fox

[Quotables] "There's too many things going through my head and they're not sticking around long enough (for me) to grasp any of them. I guess I realize that I just won the gold medal." Casey FitzRandolph U.S. speedskater, after winning the Olympic gold medal in the 500-meter event. He beat defending gold medalist Hiroyasu Shimizu by 0.03 seconds -- about the length of one skate -- with a time of 1:09.23. -- "We are ready for a strike and we're moving toward shutting this company down on Feb. 20." Tom Reardon Assistant general chairman for the International Association of Machinists, after United Airlines mechanics rejected a contract offer and authorized a strike.

Battle Ecstasy with factual information

The article on the alarming rise in Ecstasy use (Star-Bulletin, Feb. 11) is disturbing in more ways than one.

We are all concerned that an increasing number of juveniles are experimenting with a black-market drug of unknown content, which can lead to dangerous consequences. Much of what is sold on the street as Ecstasy contains very little of MDMA (the active chemical) and sometimes none at all.

Propaganda-based information programs with unsubstantiated claims about memory loss and brain damage have not deterred teens from using Ecstasy. What is likely to produce better outcomes is honest, scientifically based information about this and other drugs.

The FDA recently approved research using Ecstasy in treating post-traumatic stress disorder at the University of South Carolina. If Ecstasy were as dangerous as prohibitionists claim, would the government approving such as study?

Kids can see through the hypocrisy. If we are going to protect them, we need to give them honest, fact-based information. Scare tactics are not working.
Donald M. Topping
President
Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii

A sober recollection of wager on Elliman

I was delighted to read in Dave Donnelly's column (Star-Bulletin, Feb. 12) that singer Yvonne Elliman has made 39 CDs. To survive and thrive in the record business for any length of time is a great accomplishment, and she has done it all these years on genuine talent, talent which to me was evident in her voice from her first eight bars in "Jesus Christ Superstar."

Just for the record: Dave's memory of his wager with me that night 30-some years ago at his house on Ferdinand Avenue in Manoa is not the recollection of an independent witness who was sober and paying attention from the corner while Dave and I were holding forth at length, both considerably less than sober, in the center of the room.

The question was not whether Elliman would make it as a singer after "Jesus Christ Superstar" -- I never doubted that -- but whether she would be "bigger than Barbra Streisand," as Dave believed.

Talent is almost never rewarded on the Streisand scale. May Elliman continue to sing in her unique voice and be valued for her unique talent -- for another 39 CDs.

Gavan Daws

Vaccines, responsible owners control rabies

In his letter to the editor (Star-Bulletin, Feb. 10), Richard Char states "Hawaii's (quarantine) laws have been 100 percent effective. It's tried and proven by time."

Would he like to know how many cases of rabies have been found in the thousands of dogs and cats quarantined during the 89 years the quarantine facility has been in operation? None.

Dr. Issac Maeda, program director at the animal quarantine station, confirms that not a single case has been detected in any animal. That's proof that the rabies vaccination and owner responsibility are 100 percent effective, not Hawaii's antiquated laws.

Barbara Krasniewski

Unethical lawyers follow the leader

In reference to ethical lapses referred to in the series "When lawyers go bad" (Star-Bulletin, Feb. 10-12): Unfortunately, lawyers will always be with us. Several years ago, some 63 percent of the American people forgave President Clinton his serious ethical lapses and appeared content that he seek spiritual counseling.

A large celebration at the White House followed the Senate's acquittal of the charges against him. This must have sent an encouraging message to others whose moral compasses have gone awry, and we lowered the bar ourselves.

S.L. Botsai

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