Physician ethics forbid discrimination
To the editor:
In response to your May 29 editorial, "Indentured servants," which addressed the case of two California physicians who refused to artificially inseminate a lesbian:
During my medical school graduation ceremony, I committed myself to the Declaration of Geneva, the modern version of the Hippocratic Oath to which all members of the medical profession are dedicated.
The Declaration of Geneva clearly states, among other pledges, that a physician "will not permit considerations of age, disease or disability, creed, ethnic origin, gender, nationality, political affiliation, race, sexual orientation, social standing or any other factor to intervene between [his/her] duty and [his/her] patient."
I aspire to uphold the principles of this declaration and would expect my colleagues in California to do the same, regardless of the outcome of their case's appeal to the California Supreme Court. After all, medicine is about the care of the patient.
Lindsay Rhodes, M.D.
HENDERSON
Poor topic choice
To the editor:
I'm still scratching my head over your Saturday editorial about actress Pamela Anderson's meeting with Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada and her subsequent blog posting. If Ms. Anderson is the no-talent sex kitten you portray her as, why would your editorial board care what she thinks of Harry Reid?
To waste your time attacking her and her opinions in an editorial is very curious. One wonders just how the editorial board became aware of her blog in the first place. Maybe they were surfing for old pics of Ms. Anderson late one night and just came across her blog.
My advice to the Review-Journal: Nevada has bigger issues to deal with than Ms. Anderson's "BS-o-meter."
Richard Pratt
HENDERSON
Pointless drug war
To the editor:
Regarding your Friday editorial, "Vindictive prosecution": If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco.
Like any drug, marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents. The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican immigration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical Association.
Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been counterproductive at best. White Americans did not even begin to smoke pot until a soon-to-be entrenched federal bureaucracy began funding "reefer madness" propaganda.
By raiding voter-approved medical marijuana providers in California, the very same U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that claims illicit drug use finances terrorism is forcing cancer and AIDS patients to seek out street dealers. Apparently, marijuana prohibition is more important than protecting the country from terrorism.
Robert Sharpe
WASHINGTON, D.C.
THE WRITER IS A POLICY ANALYST FOR COMMON SENSE FOR DRUG POLICY.
Good news
To the editor:
Congratulations to the entire staff, students and families of Wendell Williams Elementary School and so many other outstanding schools whose educational achievements don't always receive the positive coverage they deserve ("Teachers of the year," Thursday Review-Journal).
It's a joy to see their successes chronicled in the media as a testament that great things are happening in education in Southern Nevada.
To everyone committed to making a difference in our community and our country's future, thank you!
Gretchen Papez
LAS VEGAS
Passing on costs
To the editor:
In reading your Saturday article, "Transfers put UMC in a bind," I had a good chuckle. Outraged Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani says taxpayers are picking up the tab for some types of urgent care not offered by area hospitals because the facilities send patients in need of that care to the county's public hospital. "They (private hospitals) should be liable," she says.
If the hospital picks up the tab, just who does she think will be liable? If private hospitals lose money on these procedures, is that not a loss, which impacts everything from paying nurses to paying taxes? Does she not think they would pass these costs on to other patients?
Of course they would shift these costs, if they can. Anytime you mandate a business to do something, the cost is passed on to the customer one way or another.
Michael Moesch
LAS VEGAS
