Drugmakers should appeal jury verdict

To the editor:

The recent award in the hepatitis C trial was a miscarriage of justice ("Drugmakers liable in hepatitis lawsuit," Thursday). The size of the vial had no part in its misuse.

Medical personnel are trained to avoid cross-contamination regardless of the container size.

The entire outbreak could have been prevented by using a sterile needle/syringe for each use of the anaesthetic, whether for the same patient or others. The drug would not have become contaminated and the contamination would not have been passed to other patients.

An appeal seems in order.

William Hodson

Henderson

Tyrant Lincoln

To the editor:

In response to Vin Suprynowicz's excellent column of May 2:

Mr. Suprynowicz is absolutely correct when he calls Abraham Lincoln a tyrant. Had the South emerged victorious, Lincoln, Grant, Sherman, Sheridan and a few choice others would have faced a war crimes tribunal.

Also, this country, whatever it would have been called, would have fared better all around, due not only to individual states maintaining their own sovereignty, but to the fact that the Confederate States of America's constitution was superior to the one we have today, which politicians can't be bothered with anyway.

Robert E. Lee said it best: "A nation held together at the point of a bayonet holds no interest for me."

I applaud Mr. Suprynowicz for knowing American history and not being afraid to speak the truth. Another book I would urge everyone to read is "The History of The Confederacy, 1832-1865" by Clifford Dowdey.

ROBERT C. COLEMAN

HENDERSON