notable firsts

this week i ran over an animal for the first time. it was probably a muskrat.

and while putting off studying for the bio exam, i wrote my first letter to a media outlet/print publication. speaking of rats.

in response to this GlaxoSmithKline ad in the Oct 11 issue of Newsweek. (mental note: forgot to use the word "self-serving")

I was appalled by the misleading GlaxoSmithKline advertisement in the October 11 issue of Newsweek, page 32. The ad cites a FDA study where fake drugs were purchased through spam e-mail claiming to sell generic versions of Ambien, Lipitor, and Viagra from Canada. What the FDA study showed is: Buying drugs through spam is dangerous. What the GlaxoSmithKline ad says is: "Getting drugs from 'Canada' isn't the answer."

By lumping spam e-mails and all of Canada together in their ad, GSK obviously hopes to scare consumers into thinking that all Canadian drugs, including those imported from legitimate sources, are dangerous fakes. Who profits from fostering this fear? GlaxoSmithKline, of course. While all advertisements are by nature corporate propaganda to some degree, this advertisement borders on outright deceit.

Interestingly enough, a brochure on the company's Canadian website (http://www.gsk.ca) boasts: "Our Mississauga, Ontario plant is a $120 million facility that produces more than 100 different products -- over three-quarters of which are exported, primarily to the United States." By the flawed "logic" presented in GlaxoSmithKline's ad, we should stop buying their own Canadian-manufactured products.

GlaxoSmithKline's American website informs us, "The price of Canadian medicines is controlled by the government of Canada through the Patented Medicines Prices Review Board." Perhaps another reason why drug companies don't want us looking at Canada is because they don't want Americans getting any ideas about regulating the cost of drugs. Making prescription drugs affordable for people who need them would hinder the drug industry's goal of squeezing every last dime from its ailing consumers.

KATIE CHANG
PARSIPPANY, NJ