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By Times Staff
Published December 30, 2007

Doctor combats pull of drug reps Dec. 27

Drug representative visits are sleazy

Kudos to Dr. James Orlowski for giving pharmaceutical sales reps the boot. I've actually seen the reps with the doughnuts in my doctor's office. I've also seen doctors take time to see these reps while their patients wait. It is a sleazy practice. I would like to see Florida join the other states that require drug companies to disclose gifts to doctors. Please write more articles on this subject. I believe your readers feel exactly like I do. Also keep us updated on the bill requiring mandatory reporting nationwide.

Faye Hunter, Bradenton

Doctors work hard, so trust them to do right

You must understand that physicians like Dr. Orlowski work for a hospital, a university or a large medical group. These physicians usually cannot receive "gifts" as per their contracts, or they have to report them. So, of course, they are always at the forefront to stop the pharmaceutical reps from distributing pens and note pads ("Oh, my God, this is going to influence me to give Lipitor only!") to all physicians.

This is not new, anyway. "Protected physicians" in institutions and large groups do not know or at least have forgotten what it's like in the trenches. Please give us credit, for those of us who work more than 50 hours a week, to be able to know that a pen or paper or lunches are not going to make us write only that drug.

Dr. Anthony T. Duany, Tampa

Retiree health plans can be cut  Dec. 28

It's time for universal health care system

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruling is sad but not surprising, as many seem to forget what brought about the current system. It was never about providing health care. It was about tax breaks for corporate America, and billions in profits for insurance carriers.

The quotes in the article seem one-sided at best. Employers, after receiving untold billions in tax benefits, certainly do have some responsibility, as they promised to provide health care "to avoid socialized medicine." Now they are putting the bills on the taxpayer. We have had "tax -supported" health care all along, but after years of collecting premiums, the insurance companies laugh all the way to the bank while the taxpayers pick up the tab.

Let's go to a universal system so at least the revenues will go into the system rather than to insurance company profits and corporate tax avoidance.

A.T. "Bud" Holland, Dunedin

Big bank writedowns may grow by $34B Dec. 28

What, exactly, is going to happen to the cash?

You use phrases like, "may write down" or "may reduce the value" or "may write off" or "may reduce its holdings." Which is it? Don't they still receive the same income from these securities even though their value in the secondary market has dried up? If all of these phrases apply, then what are the percentages? It's not very clear.

G.M. Kelly, Spring Hill

Housing gloom from all angles: Rental market Dec. 27

They're moving, in part because of rents

I just wanted to say thank you for writing the article. I found the article to be very accurate. It is one of the two reasons my wife and I are leaving Florida.

The first reason we are leaving is to find a job that pays the average median wage or above. The second reason is the rent costs in Tallahassee do not fit with what people here earn.

We have lived here just a little over 21/2 years and decided if we bought a home here it would be suicide. I have met quite a few people here who work two are three jobs just to make ends meet, and they all said that rent here was too high compared with their wage earnings.

Again, thank you for writing a story that is fresh and honest. It takes guts to write about what really concerns the average people.

Richard Duncan, Tallahassee

Editor's note: Duncan and his wife are moving this week to Columbia, S.C.

In a final dash for cash, stores slash Dec. 27

Good return policies will retain shoppers

Having worked retail, I am sympathetic with retailers needing clear, protective return policies. And as a Costco member, I totally understand Costco's need to limit electronic returns to 90 days. However, maybe some of these "reeling retailers" need to examine whether their extraordinarily stringent return policies might possibly be affecting sales.

I, for one, have made my last purchase at Target. I love the store, its cleanliness, the simple attractiveness of its products, but the return policies are so exceedingly restrictive that responsible, law-abiding customers get abused. Two recent examples:

- When my daughter received several gifts purchased at Target that were not on her baby registry, Target would not allow her to even exchange them for items on her registry.

- When we discovered, upon opening Christmas morning, that a brand new Christmas CD was faulty, Target would only exchange it for the same CD, even thoughthey were out of them the day after Christmas, and since it was a holiday item, there were no more coming in and the nearest Target with the CD in stock was 20 miles away.

I'm sorry, but these policies clearly antagonize customers. My message to the "reeling retailers" is this: Don't complain when your customers choose to register and shop elsewhere with more reasonable return policies.

Rebecca L. Johnson, New Port Richey

Boss can bank on happy holiday Dec. 25

It's not trickling down, but flowing up

This appeared as a headline Christmas Day, a day that brings our attention to much need in our community as well as our country. Some years back our folks in Washington were so concerned, they talked about cutting taxes. And if taxes were cut for the upper earning brackets, the benefits would trickle down to those in the lower brackets, and all would be well. I think it was called the "trickle down theory."

Reading the article under the headline, one CEO's payday equaled $32,660 per hour. Enough to modestly support a family of three for one year. So, it appears to me, instead of the funds trickling down, the funds have been flowing up. This is not an isolated case. I am sure the well-paid CEO felt no qualms about receiving his hourly pay and placing it into high-paying investments and not having to worry about his own physical needs.

Hartley Steeves, Tampa

Pearlman saga only getting heated up Dec. 23

An ode to Pearlman's duplicity

Lou Pearlman is a flat-out fraudster and shameless bilker. His scam tactics were incredible. This man led a lavish lifestyle while he cheated people, thus there is righteous rancor rampant. With all the subplots and twists to the Pearlman drama, I am not surprised that a movie is being made and a book written about him. They could almost make a TV soap opera out of his antics and chicanery. I'll even contribute a Pearlman portrait to the expose saga:

Canceling civilized rules,

Out to make investors his tools,

Regarding them as utter fools.

Rogue breaker of trust,

Unfeeling and unjust,

Pearlman's brazen greed

Telegraphs his evil creed

Robert B. Fleming, St. Petersburg

[Last modified December 28, 2007, 20:10:32]