Political aspiration should take a back seat
Daily, the face of Mark Kelly adorns our television screen with the call for low-cost pharmaceuticals. We are at war fighting a world wide pandemic. Now is the time for a message of hope for those suffering from COVID-19 along with support and admiration for an army of front-line care givers risking their lives.
Kelly’s self-promotion for office during this crisis is other than honorable. He may not be taking corporate cash but obviously has a spaceship full of money from major donors. I suggest he take a page from former Vice President Joe Biden’s playbook and put campaigning efforts on hold.
Or at least replicate Senator Martha McSally’s current message of hope. If Kelly must buy television time, then use his voice for the good of Arizona citizens as a sign of compassion during desperate days. This is a time for leadership over political aspiration.
Robert Lundin
Green Valley
McSally should not
blindly follow Trump
Re: the May 4 opinion piece by Martha McSally titled “Together we will prevail over COVID-19.”
Six months out from possibly losing her job and benefits with the U.S. Senate, McSally is pouring on the grease to thicken the Republican COVID-19 response smoke screen.
Standing in line for the White House Kool-Aid, McSally takes up the chant to blame China for global disinformation while ignoring President Trump’s daily misinformation to the entire country .
Once a vocal critic of the president, McSally is now just another Trump cult member trying to paw and drag enough litter to cover up a mess created in Washington.
We need to replace these senators with someone who will not just accept Trump’s chaotic handling of the COVID-19 crisis.
Owen Rentfro
Midtown
Real issue of Big Pharma is overregulation
As someone who worked for years in regulatory affairs for pharmaceutical companies, I was surprised to learn that, according to one letter, Big Pharma is “completely unregulated.”
Imagine a four-step approval process, each one taking months or years, after spending hundreds of millions of dollars to already show the drug is safe and effective.
Imagine an inspector showing up unannounced at your business, spending a week watching everything you do, interviewing employees and looking at every record going back at least a year.
Imagine having to fire a production manager for making the product better and cheaper without express approval from the government. Imagine having four persons to do the work of one to meet government “good manufacturing practices.”
Can you imagine any other business being more regulated? Welcome to the world of pharmaceuticals. Government regulation is the main cause of high prices and delayed availability.
Forcing companies to lower prices will result in one sure consequence: a drastic lowering of research dollars to find the next important cure.
Al Westerfield
Southwest side
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