Letters to the Editors

Mental illness deserves parity in health care plans

Our leaders in Washington are debating issues of enormous importance to our security and well-being. Yet while many of these issues have made front-page news, a little-noticed provision in a spending bill for the departments of Labor and Health and Human Services could help millions of Americans suffering from mental illness.

A recent government study showed that an astounding 87 percent of group health plans routinely force patients to pay more for mental health care than other health care, put stricter day limits on mental health treatment than on other health treatments, or both. The millions of Americans who are dealing with mental disorders should not have to deal with these additional roadblocks to leading healthy, productive lives.

This "mental health parity" provision would prevent larger health care plans from forcing patients to pay more for mental health care than other health care, and would stop the practice of placing stricter limits on mental health treatment than on other health treatments.

Given that roughly 20 percent of the U.S. population has a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year, and that suicide is the third leading cause of death for young Americans, this provision could provide vital help to so many Americans in need.

This parity provision can also help the bottom line of many businesses at very low costs to employers. According to the Wall Street Journal, untreated mental illness costs American businesses $70-billion each year in lost productivity and worker absenteeism, while other sources estimate that figure to be significantly higher.

The surgeon general has reported that such distinctions between mental and physical health care have no basis in science. The only reasons to restrict mental health care are stigma and outdated stereotypes.

The mental health parity proposal is in the middle of a heated debate in Washington. Though parity enjoys bipartisan support, some in Congress want to sidestep the merits of this proposal, suggesting that it be tabled due to some legislative technicalities. But Congress has already waited too long to act. Rep. C.W. Bill Young is one of a handful of representatives who will decide the fate of this proposal. We strongly urge the Pinellas County congressman to support keeping mental health parity intact in the spending bill for the departments of Labor and Health and Human Services.
-- Patricia J. Shiflett, Ph.D., and Herbert Goldstein, Ph.D., licensed psychologists, St. Petersburg

Ignoring tobacco realities

Re: OMNI cigarette ad.

Bennett S. LeBow, CEO of Vector Tobacco, sure has a way with words. Here are two direct quotes from his full-page ad for his new OMNI cigarettes that ran in your Dec. 4 issue:

"As we all know, smoking is addictive and hazardous to your health." In the next paragraph he says, "Let me be perfectly clear -- there is no such thing as a safe cigarette, and we do not encourage anyone to smoke." Reminds me of the ads Dudley Moore and his fellow mental patients created in the movie Crazy People.

But what's really crazy is that otherwise rational people will ignore LeBow's outright admissions that no good can come of cigarette smoking, and keep right on burning up their hard-earned money. Happy holidays.
-- Paul Cooper, St. Petersburg

Stop the misleading ads

Re: Tobacco ad legend yearns for good ol' days, Dec. 2.

Robert Trigaux's Marlboro Man memo on tobacco industry deception really hit the nail on the head. Whether it is Big Tobacco lobbying to stop Third World countries from preventing smoking, Phillip Morris changing its name to resemble that of a health care company, or the whole industry's continued efforts to market to kids, I have learned not to put anything past our nation's tobacco executives!

However, I did note with interest Trigaux's reference to a Nov. 27 National Cancer Institute report which concludes that "light" and "low-tar" cigarettes do not reduce smokers' health risks. It turns out that the tobacco companies knew that these "healthier" cigarettes are really just as deadly as ever. In fact, these misleading descriptions trick consumers into thinking these products are safer so that they smoke even more!

Some 400,000 Americans die every year of smoking-related illness. By putting misleading claims on their products, the tobacco companies make matters worse. Fortunately, there is legislation pending in Congress that would give the Food and Drug Administration the authority to stop such deception. We are fortunate that Florida's own Sen. Bob Graham is speaking out on this issue and has sponsored such a bill in the U.S. Senate.

Sen. Graham deserves our thanks, but we also need to contact congressmen C.W. Bill Young, Michael Bilirakis and Jim Davis and ask them to support FDA regulation of tobacco. There are just too many lives at stake.
Susan Glickman, Florida Director, Campaign, for Tobacco-Free Kids, Belleair Beach

Hinesley should leave

Re: School Board tilts toward contract, Dec. 4.

Please inform the incumbent members of the Pinellas County School board that I will be organizing my parents, neighbors and fellow educators to vote out any member who would be spineless enough not to stand up to superintendent Howard Hinesley. If he had done such a wonderful job as superintendent I would have a book for each of my students, and their parents would not have to send in writing paper for the boys and girls. I would be able to run off worksheets that accompany the new social studies and science programs and I'd not be overdrawn by $12 in my $130 classroom budget!

His arrogance disgusts me! The $54,000 yearly premium on his $690,000 life insurance policy alone would pay the starting salaries of two teachers. There are any number of qualified candidates within the Pinellas County Schools to fill the void created when he leaves. It cannot be soon enough for me. I'll even help him pack!
-- Donna Marie Kostreva, St. Petersburg

Think of the children

We respect what superintendent Howard Hinesley has done for Pinellas County. He does deserve a raise, but not now. He has basically held the whole school system hostage with his demands. He knows that it would cost us more to get another superintendent.

I could do many things besides teaching and make more money. But I came into teaching to make a difference. A true leader would not make such demands when his work force is suffering through multiple job cuts.

Hinesley should make a difference and do what is best for children.
-- Paul (Danny) Bigham, Azalea Elementary, St. Petersburg

Who will hold us accountable?

Re: Bush warns Iraq's Hussein, Nov. 27.

President Bush said, "nations that develop weapons of mass destruction will be held accountable."

Who will hold us accountable?

I remind you of an Associated Press article published in the Times on Sept. 5, describing the Defense Intelligence Agency's plans to develop small amounts of a potentially more potent variant of the anthrax bacterium (Potent anthrax strain in works).

We don't have to worry about being held accountable, though, do we, because as the article states, the more potent variant will be "strictly defensive."

I don't think the treaty on biological weapons that we signed gives a waiver to develop weapons of mass destruction if they are defensive in nature.
-- Debbie Faunce, Homosassa

Attacking Iraq would be disastrous

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children have died as a result of economic sanctions against Iraq. There are many in the Bush administration who are calling for military action against Saddam Hussein, and President Bush himself has alluded to unspecified plans to punish Iraq.

I am writing because I am worried that as a result of U.S. actions, more innocent children will die.

Unilateral military action will alienate our allies and strengthen our adversaries. The United Kingdom and France have already indicated that they will not take part in a campaign against Iraq. An attack on Iraq now could be construed by many as a merciless attack against an already suffering civilian population and is likely to increase mounting anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world.

For the children of Iraq, and for the antiterrorist coalition, a U.S. attack on Iraq would be disastrous.
-- Robert E. Nuzum, Clearwater

Take away the tools of aggression

Re: "Let's go bomb"?, editorial, Dec. 2.

"Proportionate" response to an act of aggression is a failed concept. If the aggressor continues to have both the means and the desire to harm, then he will do so. Lacking the ability to change the aggressor's mind-set, it is necessary to remove his means to commit such acts.

The United States has a poor track record in changing the minds of countries who want to harm us; it is, however, fully capable of making an aggressor harmless by removing his ability to deliver death or destruction by most known means.

A fire will burn as long as it has fuel. If we take away the tools of aggression, the action will cease.
-- Russell Koehring, Oldsmar

Military tribunals are best way

Re: Wake up, America, to military justice, by Anthony Lewis, Dec. 2.

I would think Lewis would more concerned about the rights of Americans who were killed in the Sept. 11 attacks that those of terrorists. I think we should try them before we shoot them, and military tribunals are the best way. President Bush is not "sweeping aside constitutional protections" and is acting within the Constitution.

If there are 20-million noncitizens in the United States, we need to review their status and send many of them home.
-- Frank Dahlberg, Largo

Clinton's record of failure

Re: Clinton says truth will be his legacy, Dec. 6.

Can you believe this? Bill Clinton says the truth will be his legacy! "What I did wrong is a matter of record, but what I want is the whole record out. . . . I believe the fact (now get this) that we stood up to this right-wing movement will be something that will redound to my credit in history."

Not only did he lie and use his influence as president, but if he had done his job as commander in chief, he would have gone after Osama bin Laden after the attack on the USS Cole and the embassy bombings. I hold him responsible to a great extent for what happened on Sept. 11.

What if after Pearl Harbor we just went in an bombed Tokyo? War was declared on us the day that the USS Cole was attacked, and Clinton should have used everything at his disposal to ensure that this country was not going to sit back and take it. He failed to do his job! And that is the truth.
-- James B. Mitchell, Largo

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