Let’s do something about steep drug prices
Just filled two eye drop prescriptions before cataract surgery.
One, an anti-bacterial drug used before surgery, cost me $45 co-pay, with full price of $145 for someone without insurance and using a discount coupon at Walmart. There is 30 mg of active drug in the 5 ml, which means it is selling for $1,500/g or $681,000/pound!
Another, used to treat pain and swelling after surgery, cost $90 co-pay, and $150 full price at Walmart with a coupon. There’s 2.5 mg of active drug in the 5 ml, leading to a calculated $36,000/g, $16,344,000/lb cost (and $27,249,000/lb at full price)
High cost of research and development to bring these drugs to market and high marketing costs? Yes in both cases. But with 3.5 million cataract surgeries in the U.S. this year and an estimated 20 million worldwide, how long would it take to make exorbitant profits? Spiraling drug prices are a huge part of our climbing medical costs. Something is seriously wrong. Ethics, greed, politics? Can consumer action help solve the problem?
Murl Jackson
Be sure to support PBS programming
Over the years, our family has had at least 10 pets named after characters from the PBS program “Thomas the Tank Engine.” My three children have grown up with PBS KIDS programming on WTCI, and as they have matured I have appreciated watching the news and public affairs shows inform them as they shape their political beliefs.
I’m proud to support WTCI, to be a loyal PBS viewer and to be father to fine children. I’m grateful for the role that my PBS station has played in my children’s lives and I have expressed my support of WTCI to our president and our community’s elected officials. Please join me and make sure your voice is heard.
Kirk Sanford
Computer signups disenfranchising
I’m writing in regard to the unfair process of filing for unemployment benefits in Tennessee. Thousands of economically deprived workers here do not have access to a computer, which is now required to file for unemployment compensation. This requirement disenfranchises citizens who don’t own one. An irony is that the most likely people to be eligible for unemployment compensation are also the least likely to have free access to a computer.
Many lower paying jobs only provide enough money to buy food for the family and pay bills. Buying a computer would be to purchase a luxury item most just can’t afford, especially when they are unemployed (laid off). Also, it is nearly impossible to connect using the call-in number with so many people without computer access trying to dial in using this method.
This is an obvious violation of equal access, as provided by state law regarding unemployment benefits.
This change in the application process benefits the unemployment insurance companies and reflects deceptively low unemployment numbers. This looks good for the politicians who created this unfair policy, but is grossly biased and unfair to the very people the program was designed to assist.
Jerry Simpson
Spring City, Tenn.