To the Editor:
Re “Ozempic Could Threaten the Federal Budget,” by Brian Deese, Jonathan Gruber and Ryan Cummings (Opinion guest essay, March 7):
Your essay about the fiscal impact of the new weight-loss drugs powerfully spotlights the fact that they could potentially cost more than $1 trillion per year. While this financial threat should result in more robust government negotiation of drug prices, it should also encourage policymakers to address a root cause of the obesity epidemic: the catastrophic proliferation of ultra-processed foods that are cheap, convenient and addictive.
A recent report in the B.M.J., a peer-reviewed medical journal, reaffirmed the results of extensive studies that showed that exposure to ultra-processed foods resulted in higher risks of diabetes, along with mental disorders and mortality.
If a miracle lung cancer drug had emerged decades ago, it would have been tragic if we had focused only on the cost of the drug and abandoned efforts to curtail smoking. We need explicit front-of-package labeling for ultra-processed foods, advertising and marketing regulation, effective public education efforts and targeted tax policies that require the industry to pay for the health consequences — the same strategies we used to combat tobacco’s adverse health effects.
James W. Lytle
Jamaica Plain, Mass.
To the Editor:
The writers of the guest essay contend that new weight-loss drugs known as GLP-1 agonists simply aren’t worth paying for at their “unusually high” U.S. price.
It’s a dubious claim. Sure, innovative medicines can be expensive at first, particularly in the U.S., which is responsible for funding an outsized share of drug development. But the long-term economic benefits of providing access to pharmaceutical breakthroughs typically offset the upfront costs.
Consider Covid-19. While the U.S. government spent an estimated $30 billion on Covid vaccines, America’s successful vaccination program averted an estimated $1.15 trillion in medical costs, according to an analysis from the Commonwealth Fund.
Tackling obesity could save even more. A study from the Milken Institute estimated that the total annual cost of chronic disease due to obesity and overweight is $1.72 trillion. Even if we assume that the authors’ $1 trillion-plus predicted cost of the drugs is correct (a cost that will never be seen because of brand-to-brand competition and brand patent expiration), wide access to weight-loss drugs could still lead to a staggering $720 billion in net savings every year.
Wolfgang Klietmann
Plymouth, Mass.
The writer is a former clinical pathologist and medical microbiologist at Harvard Medical School.
Trump’s Remark About American Jews and Israel
To the Editor:
Re “Trump Says Jews Who Support Democrats ‘Hate Israel’ and ‘Their Religion’” (nytimes.com, March 18):
Donald Trump has repeatedly accused American Jews who vote Democratic of being anti-Israel, conflating the Israeli state with their Jewish identity. He charges them with disloyalty — not to the United States, but to the country where they really belong.
Now, predictably, he is engaging in even more incendiary rhetoric, saying they hate their religion and want Israel to be destroyed, and claiming that Jewish politicians like Senator Chuck Schumer are merely fishing for votes among Arab Americans and others sympathetic to the Palestinians. Two weeks ago, when asked what his solution to the conflict in Gaza would be, he said Israel should “finish the problem.”
To everyone who has marched against the war, torn down a “kidnapped” poster, or voted uncommitted in a Democratic primary: Listen to this man’s words and ask yourself if he intends to lift a finger to help the Palestinians in any way.
Howard Korder
Santa Fe, N.M.
To the Editor:
The definition of chutzpah: a non-Jew telling a Jew how to be Jewish. According to Donald Trump, someone who votes Democratic rejects their Judaism and Israel’s existence. Clearly he passed chutzpah a long time ago.
Chris Prince
New York
Gunshots on the Subway: What Are We Supposed to Do?
To the Editor:
Re “Shouts, a Fight, Then a Gun Goes Off in a Crowded Subway Car” (front page, March 18):
I’m a daily subway commuter, and I’m fed up not knowing how to respond, as a civilian, to subway aggression. For all the talk from politicians about public safety on the subway, no one that I’m aware of is offering guidance about what we civilians are supposed to do when someone starts acting out, beyond ignoring them or hoping the cops show up.
Sometimes, ignoring them is simply not an option, and what’s more, I have no interest in ceding our public spaces to bullies.
You’re also never going to have enough cops to babysit every train car in the system. But there are millions of eyes watching all the bad behavior that goes down on a daily basis, if only we knew how to handle it.
The city should take an interest in training average citizens who don’t want to be helpless bystanders at best, and victims at worst.
Ronen Schatsky
Brooklyn
To the Editor:
After the recent chaotic shooting on a crowded subway train in Brooklyn, I’ll feel safe again only when a police officer is assigned to every car on every train, and when the system adopts the same screening protocols as at our airports, where, waiting to board, I feel reasonably sure nobody around me is carrying a deadly weapon. I cannot say the same for the subway in New York.
As these suggestions are unlikely to be implemented, the only other thing I can think of is to repeal the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Tim Burke
Middletown, N.J.
Heroic Abortion Providers
To the Editor:
Re “Abortion Clinic Persists Despite Wyoming’s Ban” (front page, March 11):
It is both timely and necessary that an article profiling the admirable work of Julie Burkhart should appear the week of Abortion Provider Appreciation Day (March 10).
Ms. Burkhart is among the heroic abortion providers who have carried on the hard work of Dr. George Tiller and the other fearless doctors who sacrificed their lives to protect a woman’s right to control her own life.
These doctors and clinic staff work under constant stress and steady opposition, often right outside their doors. They have told me stories of patients who protest in front of their clinics, then come in the back door for abortions, only to go right back out to protest some more.
Could these providers have picked an easier medical practice? You bet. They deserve our heartfelt thanks not just on one day, but every day.
Ellen Sweet
New York
The writer is a former vice president of Physicians for Reproductive Health.
FAFSA Chaos
To the Editor:
Re “Plan to Simplify Aid for College Made It Worse” (front page, March 14):
Revamping the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) program, announced with great fanfare, seemed like a great idea, particularly as it was intended to facilitate the student aid application process for lower income students.
But the Department of Education’s wholesale and disgraceful failure of execution is just another sad reminder of the wisdom of Milton Friedman’s advice about government programs: “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.”
Kenneth A. Margolis
Chappaqua, N.Y.