Library board bylaws mix-up
Dear Editor:
As a past library board member, I notice that the commissioners have appointed a town resident to fill the county (out of town) seat on the library board. The structure and intent of appointing two county board members, two town board members and one town/county member is to provide all the library users with balanced representation. Although the town resident could be considered a member of the county, that is not the intent of the bylaws. This appointment leaves a board that could be skewed to vote in the town’s favor and leave our more rural users without adequate representation on pertinent issues. In the event that there are no out of town applicants this appointment makes sense. However, a newspaper article the previous week indicated there was one county applicant in the pool. I hope the commissioners will consider rectifying this.
Pat Daggett
Meeker
Thanks from Ecology Program
Dear Editor:
It is with the deepest feeling of gratitude that we write this letter to thank our amazing community for your support at our Belize fundraiser at the Brewery on Sunday. The event was extremely successful and we were able to raise $11,500 for our trip to Belize in June. We want to thank the Borchard family for the use of their beautiful facility, Lisa Selle and the Selle family for the fantastic music, the Scritchfield crew and Travis Anderson for cooking in the snow, the parents and others for providing all of the rest of the food, the silent auction donors for over 30 unique, quality items, GM Meats, absentee donors, and the list goes on.
We can’t say enough about the support that we have had throughout our fundraising endeavors over the past year. It has been tremendous! From this support, in early June 2023, 18 high school students and three chaperones will go on a learning adventure in the tropical rainforests of Belize at the Toucan Ridge Ecology and Education Society Research Station where we will study a unique species of mud turtles and neotropical bats. From there, we will head to the second largest barrier reef in the world to stay on Tobacco Caye (island) while learning about coral reef health and conducting tropical fish surveys. When we’re not helping with ecological studies, we’ll be immersed in Belizean culture. This is the trip of a lifetime and it would not be possible without our generous community.
Thank you, thank you, thank you,
The Meeker International
Ecology Program ~ Belize 2023
Ann Franklin, Mandi Etheridge and Ann Marie Scritchfield
Drug companies’ misleading boasts
Dear Editor:
Please don’t get suckered into believing recent media boasts by big pharmacy companies that they are providing some benevolent gift to insulin users by maxing costs at $35 per month. This is pure promotional hype and much of American media seems to be promoting their publicity for these mega rich company.
The fact is that Congress (both Republicans and Democrats) passed a federal law last year limiting insulin costs to $35/month. Lost in the fine detail was that this legislation applied only to health insured customers. So now, this seemingly magnificent gesture by Lilly applies to the non-insured.
That’s great as far as it goes, but if people can’t afford health insurance can they even afford $35 a month? There’s a squirrely offer to download a “discount” card, but I do wonder if these uninsured can even get online.
The worst of this boasting is that drug companies have been making billions off insulin for years and seem to feel proud of their recently reported profits and hefty payments to stockholders. Now they want to boast that they’re doing something good for impoverished people.
Diabetes is a health issue that affects about 13% of American residents. Once a diabetic, you will always be a diabetic – there is no cure. It complicates other serious health issues such as kidney and heart problems.
Further, it is a daily commitment. Managing diabetes is a three-legged stool of:
- Proper diet – avoiding fast acting sugars, eating routinely, and maintaining a well balanced diet every meal, every day.
- Exercise – helps lower blood sugar and thus decrease the negative impact. Yet, excessive exercise can cause low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) that at its worst can cause a coma like condition.
- Medication – many pills help manage diabetes until they are no longer effective, cause other issues like liver damage, or the patient’s condition gets worse. The final alternative is insulin – daily injections with a needle, keeping medication refrigerated, pricking fingers every day to determine blood sugar level and adjust the injection amount.
Insulin has been around since 1921. It is not a new drug and although some improvements have come along, such as pump injections for serious patients, I’m not confident any new research is being done by drug companies to improve a tried and true money winner.
Even $35/month ($420/year) can be a burden along with other medication out-of-pocket costs despite insurance and/or Medicare.
These drug companies are promoting news releases to make them look good, not because they are caring Fortune 500 businesses. They should have decreased insulin costs to both insured and un-insured long ago.
Kaye Sullivan
Meeker
Thoughts expressed on opinion pages are exclusively those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the Herald Times. You are welcome to submit signed letters on matters of local interest to [email protected], mail to PO Box 720, Meeker, CO 81641 or drop off at 304 4th St., Meeker. there is no charge.
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