Manns Medium

Leave it to the media to title an article but never present the other side of the coin.  What’s the other side of the coin you ask?  Just how much is enough for the price of a human liver and just how many people must die before the cost and idea of making millions are replaced by the desire to do good?  The article is written by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and it is titled “$1,000-per-pill drug overtaken by pricier successor ” for the Associated Press.  In the article it details a whole host of things like “ the $1,000 pill for a liver-wasting viral infection that made headlines last year is no longer the favorite of patients and doctors.  The new leading pill for hepatitis C is more expensive, and the number of patients seeking a cure has surged.  Sovaldi, last year's wonder drug, has been pushed aside by a successor called Harvoni, made by the same company. The sticker price for Harvoni is $1,350 a pill. ”  Noticed that the same company improved their ...

The recent stories about the long wait veterans have to endure to see a doctor for the first time and the possible loss of life because of this wait is nothing new to veterans and those trapped within this system.  For some they are quick to blame this administration for these stories but if they do a little research, they may learn that this has been an on-going problem since the  Reagan  Era if not further back.  So let’s not get lazy and ask only those veterans we know or the new breed of veteran, ask those who have been sitting in VA facilities for years.  The issue should be if this time will be treated as those times were.  A major story for a few months then as another shiny object appears, becomes just another whisper in the back drop.  You see, stories that sell papers may be the objective but to those veterans trapped in this maze, it is a little more than that, it’s a matter of life or death. I believe it was Montel Williams who suggest...

On November 13, 2008, I received a letter from the Commandant of the Marine Corps.  Now for those who might not know who that is or know that my prior life was served as a United States Marine from 1980 till 1991, the Commandant is the top executive in the Marines.  He is the guy who sets the policies, procedures and standards that all Marines must live by.  Getting that letter, made me first wonder why he was writing me and if the Marines had finally gotten around to issuing my overdue medals or was there another sinister meaning for this letter.  What I discovered after reading that letter would prove more devastating  than I could have known. The letter was actually from Major General E.G. Payne, Assistant Deputy Commandant, thanking me for taking part in a study  that was seeking to see if there was a link between individuals who had lived and worked at Camp LeJeune between 1957 and 1987 and the cancer causing toxins dumped in the drinking water. ...