TNT letters to the editor, 7/27/2021

Pharmaceutical innovation

It feels like a lifetime since the pandemic started.

I look after my father and stepmother who are in their 80s. Luckily, we were all able to get vaccinated in February. The ability to move beyond the stress and fear of COVID-19 has drastically improved our lives.

I’m very grateful for these vaccines, and the experience has given me a newfound appreciation for pharmaceutical innovation.

These vaccines were developed quickly, but only because decades of work and investment from the pharmaceutical industry were already there.

That’s why I am concerned about regulations that our elected leaders in Washingon, D.C. want to enact that would impact funding for new drug development.

Just this month H.R.3 was introduced; if adopted, it would allow the government to set the prices of prescription medications, upending the free and open approach that led us to the coronavirus vaccine.

I understand wanting to lower drug prices, but sacrificing innovation in the wake of a pandemic is not the way.

Angela Muniz, Tacoma

Media control

A recent NBC headline quoted President Biden blaming Facebook and other social media companies for allowing COVID misinformation. “They’re killing people,” he said.

The president is trying to bring media closer to heel by extending control over “misinformation.” To him, this is any statement or opinion that disagrees with his self-serving narrative.

This is dangerous. The survival of a free state is largely dependent on an informed electorate and unrestricted exchange of ideas. The pandemic emergency is used as an excuse for the usurpation of our constitutional rights.

But what they are actually doing, with public acquiescence, is creating a precedent so they may exercise this power whenever government officials feel threatened.

As an engineer, student of science and political observer, I can confidently say that where politics and science mix, politics always will dominate, science becomes untrustworthy and the prevailing narrative will determine what constitutes misinformation.

We often hear of the need for a wall between church and state. What we really need is a wall between the press and state. Their unholy alliance will inevitably lead to the loss of our freedoms and the dominance of government in our lives.

Garth Jackson, Gig Harbor

Pro athlete in court

Re: “Holding wife’s hand, Richard Sherman enters court, pleads not guilty, issues statement,” ( TNT, 7/16).

Many of us saw the video of Sherman’s recent behavior and the police report that they had to use canine support to subdue him after he allegedly drove impaired and then tried to break into his in-laws’ home.

And yet the former Seattle Seahawk entered a not-guilty plea in court and was released.

It is very evident that Sherman has problems, but to take no responsibility for his actions speaks volumes as to just how sorry he is.

And the court releasing him does nothing to deter him from from this kind of behavior in the future.

Joni Hailey, Tacoma

Inflation problems

Have your rent or your property taxes increased? Are you driving less? When was the last time you had a T-bone steak?

At least we now know what our national leader means by equity. He means that we are all in the same boat, but he denies that the boat is sinking.

If you voted for him, suck it up and learn to live with it.

James D. Petersen, Lakewood

This story was originally published July 27, 2021 at 11:23 AM with the headline "TNT letters to the editor, 7/27/2021."