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Big pharma pricing out of control: Letters to the editor

Letters to the editor

Big pharma pricing out of control

Our politicians seem helpless against the abusive pricing activities of pharmaceutical companies.  We’ve seen crazy levels of price increases both in patented drugs and in life saving generic products that have no legitimate reason for 1,000 percent increases just because they are near monopolies for the companies who have seized control of their manufacture and distribution.

Our politicians have been vocal in their outrage at the immoral increases and have demanded it stop.  Despite claims that they have heard the public outcry, prices have only continued to skyrocket.

I have a simple suggestion to make to our representatives in D.C. that requires no ingenuity or even any effort on their part to stop this madness.  All they have to do is declare they will not meet with lobbyists from the drug industry nor will they or their staff accept any political contributions from them until the industry comes forward with a convincing plan that will reverse this recent price gouging.  

Of course, we recognize drug development is expensive and risky, but recent price levels are way beyond reasonable and are hurting vast segments of our society who simply cannot afford the drugs they so desperately need.

This madness has to stop because it is killing people.

Alexander MacLachlan

Wilmington

Humans are not warming the planet

At last, a News Journal editorial that may be telling the truth.

From the recent editorial about global warming: “Global warming is real, humans are contributing to it." That says it all.

Humans are contributing to it. The question is how much humans are contributing to it. Personally I believe very little is “contributed” by humans considering the billions of years history of the planet.

What happened to climate change? It has been a relatively cool first two weeks in August here in Delaware, which I'm thankful for.

Stan Olson

Wilmington

Kudos for Poppiti

How lucky the people of New Castle County are to have elected an honest, trustworthy man as Ciro Poppiti III as your Register of Wills. I met Mr. Poppiti as most us do upon the death of a loved one. I was in North Carolina, my home State, when I first spoke with him.

My initial impression was that I was speaking to a caring individual. He politely took my call and addressed all my concerns. He was not in a hurry to end my unexpected phone call and repeatedly asked if I understood the procedure.

 Needless to say, I was impressed. In this day of politicians who do not care for their constituents, he is a rare find. After arriving in Delaware, I found the office staff to be just as helpful, kind and just as knowledgeable. He truly knows his job.

Furthermore, he likes his job. It shows in him, in his staff and in their work.

RoseAnne Youstic

Cary, North Carolina

Justify latest price hike 

Is The News Journal intentionally trying to have customers cancel their subscriptions? They must be if they come up with a 22 percent price increase in the monthly subscription rate. Although I recently moved into nearby Pennsylvania after being a Delaware native for almost 80 years, I still wanted Delaware news, what there was of it.

But this monthly price increase, from $38 to $49 [for digital access and daily print delivery], is totally ridiculous in today's economy and consumer price increases.

I would love to hear someone try to justify that price increase without choking on their words or making me laugh.

Roger Thomson

Glen Mills, Pennsylvania

Address climate change, grow economy

It was heartening to read The News Journal’s Aug. 9 editorial “U.S. can’t ignore climate change science,” which calls for congressional action to address the threat of climate change which, as the article points out, is an “existential” threat to Delaware, the lowest lying state in our nation.

To address climate change, we need federal legislative action. Citizens’ Climate Lobby has developed a bipartisan solution to solving the climate crisis called carbon fee and dividend where a fee is placed on fossil fuels at the source, 100 percent of the revenue is returned as a monthly dividend back to households, and a border adjustment is enacted to stop business relocation.

Multiple studies have shown if Congress enacts this proposal, it will not only go a long way toward solving the climate crisis but will also help grow our economy.

Unfortunately, we often hear about the lack of bipartisan action in Congress on issues like climate change. Fortunately, 26 Republicans and 26 Democrats in the House of Representatives are joining together to discuss this and other bipartisan solutions to climate change in a newly formed group called the climate solutions caucus. The First State needs to ask our representative, Lisa Blunt Rochester, to join this bipartisan group.

Diana Burk

Middletown