By Staff
Support House Bill No. 279
To the editor:
I have been appalled at the recent attacks on the optometric profession. Thank you for allowing me to provide the facts on our legislation.
House Bill No. 279 simply amends current Mississippi law to allow optometrists to perform primary eye care services within their scope of education and prescribe appropriate pharmaceuticals.
This is no different than the current Mississippi laws that allow dentists, podiatrists and nurse practitioners to perform health-related services in their practices.
Imagine going to the dentist with a toothache and the dentist diagnoses an abscessed tooth. He can't prescribe an antibiotic or painkiller, but has to send you to a medical doctor for treatment.
That is what is happening every day in optometric practices in Mississippi. Optometrists and dentists have very similar education and training and, in most states, can provide similar levels of care.
If misuse of prescription narcotics is so out of hand in our state, as our opposition states, then it is the medical physicians who are the primary source of these illicit prescription drugs. If the medical profession is truly concerned about the "serious crisis in street drugs," how willing are they to enact legislation to limit their prescriptive authority? House Bill No. 279 limits optometrist to a 72-hour supply on Schedule drugs.
We appreciate the members of the House that voted overwhelmingly to pass our bill. We ask our senators to do the same. In Mississippi, optometrists should be able to practice at the same level as in 41 other states.
We ask those that are against our bill to provide facts and not hysterical arguments to support their position. Your readers deserve the facts and Mississippians deserve access to complete eye care from their optometrists.
Amy Ajax Crigler, O.D.,
secretary-treasurer,
Mississippi Optometric Association
Bush: Hardly the worst president'
To the editor:
OK, this is something to think about. Liberals claim President Bush shouldn't have started this war. They complain about his prosecution of it. One liberal recently claimed Bush was the worst president in U.S. history.
Let's clear up one point: We didn't start the war on terror. Try to remember, it was started by terrorists before 9/11.
Let's look at the "worst" president and mismanagement claims.
1) Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Democrat) led us into World War II. Germany never attacked us, Japan did. From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost, an average of 112,500 per year.
2) Harry S. Truman (Democrat) finished that war and started one in Korea. North Korea never attacked us. From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost, an average of 18,333 per year.
3) John F. Kennedy (Democrat) started the Vietnam conflict in 1962. Vietnam never attacked us.
4) Lyndon Johnson (Democrat) turned Vietnam into a quagmire. From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost, an average of 5,800 per year.
5) Bill Clinton (Democrat) went to war in Bosnia without U.N. or French consent. Bosnia never attacked us. He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions.
6) In the two years since terrorists attacked us, President Bush has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled al-Qaeda, put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran and North Korea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.
We lost 600 soldiers, an average of 30 a year. Bush did all this abroad while not allowing another terrorist attack at home.
Worst president in history? Come on!
Richard Lancaster
Newton
Today a family pet, tomorrow a person?
To the editor:
On Saturday afternoon March 20, at approximately 4 p.m., my family pet, Samantha, was killed in front of Bonita Lake RV park.
My brother was trying to get her back across the road and home when some uncaring person came flying over the hill and hit my dear Samantha killing her instantly.
Did that person stop? No. The car kept going and didn't even slow down. I am thankful it did not hit my brother who was standing between the north and south lanes and witnessed the entire incident as it happened. I hope this person will be able to live with themselves for doing this.
I would like to say "thank you," however, to the couple in the vehicle behind the car that hit her. They came back to see if they could do anything and I appreciate that very much. Even though I do not know your names, God bless you for caring.
How can someone run over and kill a person's family pet? It was like killing a member of my family, especially with them standing there trying to catch her? Do people have no compassion or heart anymore for other people and their pets?
The traffic coming from the southeast area down the hill toward Bonita is getting worse with the speeding. I see the city of Meridian police around the Bonita Lakes area on Highway 19 several times a week catching the speeders and would like to see them do something to get people to slow down coming down the hill.
If not, is there anything that can be done? In the mornings, it is getting more difficult to get into the road with the traffic coming over the hill.
Who will be hit next? This area is getting busier this time of the year and it would be tragic for a person to get killed because people are not obeying the speed limits.
Arlene Tew
Meridian