Online only letters to the editor

Protecting health or profits?

Editor, The Times:

"Drug import effort blocked" [Times, News, May 8] illustrates the problem of politicians being influenced by industry.

Oh yes, we're being "protected" from unsafe foreign drugs. Where were these "protectors" recently when melamine was found in chicken feed?

It seems protecting Americans' health is important as long as it first protects corporate profits.

As for the blocking of drug imports, aren't we supposed to be in a global economy? We send our jobs overseas. American corporations make products in China only to be sold back to us, tariff free.

Halliburton is relocating to the Middle East.

American's can't save money by buying drugs from a global market? Maybe it's time for some more offshoring.

You can probably get a couple dozen or more better-educated and -qualified candidates to replace one American CEO, for less money.

And think of how much further our dollar would go if we offshored our politicians. At least lobbyists would have a hard time working through the call processing and call centers to find the right person to bribe.

-- Tim Alford, Monroe

Gluten-free is not a fad

I was sincerely disappointed to read "Gluten-free: a savory brew of fad and fear" [Editorial, May 12].

For those of us who have celiac disease -- as you cited in the piece, 2.2 million people -- one-eighth of a teaspoon of gluten can make us sick for three days -- cannot leave the bed, violently ill, hovering perpetually near the bathroom sick. I have grown sick because candy was dusted with flour to keep the pieces from sticking, and the manufacturers were not legally obligated to tell me.

Most people with celiac disease retreat from the world. Try going to a coffee shop and finding anything to eat. If such a small amount of gluten can make us that ill, who is going to go to a restaurant?

When I was first diagnosed with celiac, I was told: "You'll be eating plain salads and boiled chicken for the rest of your life." That is a life driven by fear.

Actually, my life is vibrant and full. I eat well, better than ever before. But I do have to check every label, and ask questions about every bite of food I eat. It's a little exhausting sometimes.

That the food industry is paying attention, offering us more choices and labeling food properly is a sweet release.

That The Times belittled gluten-free labels by saying this craze is driven by fear and people dedicated to their waistlines instead of their health, brought furious tears to my eyes.

And by the way, Quaker oats are cross-contaminated with gluten in the factory. Yes, those of us who have to avoid gluten cannot eat them. It's not a fad or a trend. It's our lives.

-- Shauna James, Seattle

My 13-year-old happens to be diagnosed with celiac disease. A strict gluten-free diet for her isn't a hot dietary craze, it is medically prescribed nutritional therapy, and lifelong at that.

Before being gluten-free, my daughter was underweight and malnourished. She has been gluten-free for eight years now, is healthy and thriving, and, dare I say, alive.

Most people in the U.S. with celiac disease are sick for years, if not decades, before being diagnosed, because it has been mistakenly deemed a rare disorder by the medical establishment.

Scientific research is showing that celiac disease is not rare at all; in fact, one in 150 people have it.

-- Nancy Uding, Seattle

Support for Medvedev

Valentin Medvedev suffered a severe stroke, leaving him totally defenseless and unable to stand up for himself ["Patient trapped in middle of nasty dispute," page one, May 12]. Imagine how it would feel to be alone, unable to communicate, afraid and not a familiar face in the room? Imagine how Medvedev longs for the comfort of his family and loved ones during the most frightening time of his life. Imagine how he longs to hear his own language?

Consider how it would feel to be defenseless, the property of a guardian, stripped of all rights -- including the right to complain -- as the guardian orders medical procedures for you, without the consent of your family.

How would it feel to have everything you've worked for your entire lifetime gone? To have people you don't know invade your life and your family's life?

Now think of King County Court Commissioner Carlos Velategui's role in this tragedy. What did he do? He punished the patient by denying Medvedev his family during his most desperate time in need.

There is no justification for punishing an innocent man. None.

Medvedev is doomed by the very system that is supposed to be protecting him.

-- Elaine Renoire, Beech Grove, Ind.

After reading about Valentin Medvedev, I wonder about the motivation of the parties involved: the court/guardian on one side, and the family on the other.

The motivation for a guardianship agency is not altruistic, it is obviously monetary.

It is, after all, a business and in business you strive to make money -- in Medvedev's case, $23,000 from December to March in guardian fees alone.

If it were not for the recent attention given to improperly sealed files, this case would be a sure bet. Once again, an incapacitated individual is relegated to second-class citizenry.

-- Dean Libey, Clarkston

Overtime pay is OK

Why is "27 City Light workers top $100,000 in overtime pay" [page one, May 11] front-page news? Because these workers put in extra time and were compensated well for it?

Maybe the overtime-skeptics would rather still be in the dark. Unions negotiate overtime pay into their contracts in order to keep employers from expecting unreasonable work hours. "If they want me to work over my scheduled hours, they will have to pay me," is the philosophy.

To other union workers and blue-collar employees, it is a perfectly reasonable expectation. The only reason this is front-page news to anyone is because the corporations that control the news also despise paying overtime. It's a tragedy that the union worker is a vanishing breed in this country. Corporate sellouts and white-collar blowhards have nothing but contempt for American union workers trying to support their families comfortably.

The union worker is considered a scourge on the bottom lines of corporate America.

The gap continues to grow . . . and excuse us little people for collecting a small piece of the pie.

-- Earnie Conley, Des Moines

I, too, agree with letter writers Jim Behrend and Sal Avalos who wrote that the line workers earned and deserved the overtime pay they received ["An overloaded transmitter" and "Energizer bennies," Northwest Voices, May 15].

Their toil was hard, and they got the job done.

-- Linda Neilsen, Kent