Letters to the editor for Nov. 14

Do we want more semi-truck crashes?

The crash on Interstate 5 on Oct. 21 near Maytown Road involving five semi-trucks also resulted in two more truck accidents on surrounding roads as trucks tried to find shortcuts to get out of the mess. A semi crashed into the train trestle on Old Highway 99 near Offut Lake Road, and another semi spilled its load on Endicott Road at 123rd, right up against the National Wildlife Refuge and a stone’s throw from the Black River.

Before the crack-up on I-5 another semi-truck hit a rail trestle and overturned on Mullen Road Southeast Oct. 15. We were all lucky that no one died in any of these crashes.

But the odds are going to get a lot worse if Thurston County Commissioners grant Port of Tacoma’s request for a rezone of land abutting Millersylvania State Park by Maytown and Tilley roads. Port of Tacoma wants that land rezoned industrial so it can sell it to an out-of-state developer who would build a massive inter-modal trucking center that would put an estimated 4,000 more trucks a day on area roads.

Fatal accidents involving large trucks have jumped 45% since 2009 according to the safety research website, Injuryfacts, a project of the National Safety Council. Why would we want the mess we saw on Oct. 21 to be an even more frequent occurrence?

Congress’ H.R. 3 could limit choices for patients

Five years ago I learned I had Parkinson’s disease, which has few treatments and no cure. Parkinson’s patients are still waiting on a breakthrough medical discovery to provide better options for treatment.

Congress recently introduced House Resolution 3 (H.R.3), which might make that wait even longer. H.R. 3 would fix the list of medicines available in the US to a “reference” list of medicines available in other countries. This would mean more patients face delays in treatment or “step therapy” requirements before accessing the medication their doctor prescribes.

I’ve had first-hand experience with step therapy when my urologist wanted me to take a specific brand medication, but my insurance company required me to try two older and cheaper medications first. The medications didn’t help at all and gave me weakness and nausea.

I don’t want to see other patients go through those same challenges. In some situations — such as with cancer — it could literally be the difference between life and death.

With promising therapies for Parkinson’s in the research pipeline, I want to ensure all Americans can access new medical discoveries. I hope our lawmakers reconsider importing restrictions from other countries as they seek to improve our health care system at home.