If Only Heart Disease Made Good Television

By MICHAEL K. NORRIS

Well, the media got its wish today: the first death in the U.S. attributed to swine flu. I say ‘wish’ because I couldn’t help noticing a story yesterday covering an interview with Dr. Richard Besser, acting director for the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. He said that U.S. deaths from swine flu would be likely. Because of what he said, the words “deaths likely” was splashed on headlines across the country.

This is one of those times I can’t help admiring the media in a Lex Luthor sort of way. It’s not that they’re lying or being evil, but they’re cherry-picking information to make a story scarier. Case in point: Dr. Besser said in that same interview the ordinary flu kills about 36,000 people annually in the U.S., but that stat didn’t find its way into nearly as many headlines as ‘deaths likely.’

Speaking of death, according to more statistics from the Centers for Disease Control 2,448,017 people died in this country in 2005. The most common cause: heart disease, which took the lives of 652,091 people that year. Swine flu has taken, well, far fewer, but you wouldn’t know it by the current coverage.

Can you imagine if heart disease inspired the same kind of fear swine flu does? We’d be banning red meat less than 99.9% lean, setting fire to the headquarters of cigarette companies, and making all Americans pay a certain share of their taxes in sit-ups. Instead of seeing people walking around in face masks, we’d see them jogging in place with free weights at shoulder level.

Government leaders and agencies do have a responsibility to prepare for dangerous outbreaks, and while citizens can prepare too (i.e., washing hands with hot, soapy water) it’s just as important to keep a proper perspective and separate fact from what-sells-newspapers.

Earth Day

By DAN MALLOY

Tomorrow, I will leave my car in the driveway and ride my bike to work.   It’s only three miles, but along with the thousands of other people walking, biking, carpooling or taking energy efficient modes of transportation to work on Earth Day, it’s a small way we can make a point about going the extra mile for the environment. 

Earth Day gives us a chance to reflect on how much we’ve been able to accomplish together, how much more there is to do, and how important it is to continue to make the ultimate investment in our children’s future by protecting the planet.  Too often, environmental initiatives can fall by the wayside during an economic downturn and unfortunately we’ve seen funding for environmental protection diminish over the past few months.

In Stamford, we make every effort to ensure that the environment remains a top priority in the long term  without compromising fiscal responsibility by looking for ways to make our community more environmentally friendly without adding extra cost.  For example, as part of a comprehensive environmental plan for the city called “Stamford Cool & Green 2020,” we implemented over 70 energy efficient projects within existing buildings and new construction, investments that save millions of dollars in energy costs in the long term and most important –reduces our dependence on an overtaxed grid.

Let’s take the opportunity on this Earth Day to make at least one change in our lives that will help pass along a clean and green legacy for generations to come.  From investing in energy efficient light bulbs to conserving water to forming an office carpool, your contribution can help make the planet- and your wallet- a bit greener. 

Happy Earth Day!

The Same is Costlier Than Change

By MICHAEL K. NORRIS

In anticipation of the healthcare debate, the GOP has been insisting that reform would be too expensive. Much too expensive. So expensive it’s crazy to even think about changing our current system; or at least not doing too much.

If anyone in the GOP (or even our own party, for that matter) had any doubts about how staggeringly, painfully backwards the current health care system is in the U.S. and how desperately we need reform, consider the report from the Integrated Care Collaboration in Austin, Texas, which made headlines yesterday: the nonprofit group of healthcare providers found out that nine people made 2,678 emergency room visits, at the cost of about $3,000,000.

If each of those nine made the same number of ER visits over those six years, it means that each made an emergency room visit every 7.3 days for six years. That’s over $55,000 per year, per person.

Some reform ideas (such as universal health care in various packages) are going to be expensive, but I’m guessing if 0.00000003% of the U.S. population can cost three million, we can’t rule out the notion that there are better ways to encourage health, treat ailments, and prevent visits to the emergency room.