UPDATE: Viagra-gate takes on a, um, life of its own
Who knew a Republican primary race for governor would be so hard-fought?
First, Treasurer Sarah Steelman makes the allegation that U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof is a supporter of wasteful spending because he voted for a bill that would allow Medicare to fund Viagra pills for senior citizens that have a little hitch in their giddy-up.
Steelman was so firmly convinced this was a campaign winner that she mentioned it three times in last Friday’s Lake Ozark debate. But today the Hulshof camp planted its own flag on the Viagra issue, pointing out that Steelman, too, once voted for the little blue pills, and hers went to, gasp, sex offenders.
“Sarah Steelman made a point of suggesting, several times, that voting in favor of Viagra coverage calls one’s courage into question,” said Scott Baker, communications director for Hulshof for Governor. “What does she say when it is revealed that she voted to give Viagra to registered sex offenders?”
State government covered the cost of Viagra for some sex offenders in 2004. Steelman cast a favorable vote for the Medicaid budget, including the Viagra coverage, in May of 2004.
Based on the worldwide sales of the popular Pfizer drug, one has to wonder if the candidates would be better off courting those who use the drug, rather than running from it?
Perhaps that was the spirit behind the announcement this afternoon of the endorsement of Steelman by World War II veteran Wallace Fiedler. Fiedler could not be reached for comment on whether he has a position on the Viagra debate.
UPDATE: Steelman spokesman Spence Jackson responds by saying that the two votes are “very different things.”
He said that Steelman’s vote isn’t the same thing as Hulshof’s because the state coverage of Viagra was mandated by the federal government.
“This is another case of Washington ramming something down our throats,” Jackson said.
Here’s a few points for the ignoramuses who are bashing pharma companies here:
1. Viagra was initially studied for use in hypertension and angina pectoris (related to heart disease).
2. While it is certainly true that drugs are the fastest growing portion of healthcare spending, how do you figure your comment on “unnecessary drugs”? Drugs are prescribed by physicians, who, with rare exception, have a medical basis for doing so. Unnecessary prescriptions should, in fact, be extremely rare.
3. I had a friend with debilitating arthritis (had to give up a career as a reporter for a major newspaper) who took Vioxx before it was withdrawn. She was VERY upset that it was withdrawn - it was the only thing on the market worked for her. To her, the small risk of a heart attack was worth the relief of constant pain. But the trial lawyers make it impossible for people to make such decisions.
4. Garrison - Of course the drug companies give money to politicians, that industry is very regulated. Actually, though, $16 million isn’t that much. How much do you think labor unions have given to the Democrats?
The fact is that people live longer and better than ever before because of advances in modern medicine. And pharmaceutical products play a large role in that advance. If you lefties want to live without the products of evil companies like Merck and Pfizer, it’s fine with me … there’ll be that many fewer liberals in the world.