Dispensing doctors obeying the law

Does Dr. Chet Nierenberg really think that community doctors have been running a "black market" by following state and federal rules and regulations established for decades ("Physician dispensing fuels black market," Star-Advertiser, Letters, May 27)?

Did he also fail to see the recent study performed by the WorkersCompensation Research Institute proving that traditional doctor dispensing actually costs less then pharmaceutical prescribing?

Perhaps it is time for all parties — physicians, "independent" evaluators and workers compensation insurers — to disclose how much they are paid, whether working as healers for the patient, as evaluators for insurers with liability immunity or as insurance executives.

Then, with the input of the patients our workers compensation system was designed to protect, let the public, state Department of Labor and lawmakers decide who is being ethical.

Scott McCaffrey
Past president and current executive committee secretary, Honolulu County Medical Association

Motorcyclists often own worst enemy

Recently there have been letters asking people to be careful when near motorcycles, so I wanted to relate an incident that happened to me.

A group of motorcycles was coming onto the highway and the first one pulled right in front of me, slowing me down along with the people behind me. This was so that he could allow the whole group of motorcycles to move onto the highway.

Fortunately, I was not moving very fast, and the cars behind me were able to slow down also. I think people have no desire to harm others, regardless of what vehicle they are using. But I could see how an accident could have occurred by this somewhat audacious move by the man on the motorcycle.

Also, those who want us to be especially careful when driving near motorcycles might do something about the noisy motorcycles that roar around our roads and streets with total impunity at any hour of the day.

Perhaps doing a little policing of your fellow bikers might make for good relations.

Richard L. Kurth
Kaneohe

How about a fee for campaign signs?

I am quite dismayed to see how two-faced our local politicians really are.

This session, the public learned that we must be charged for plastic bags because they are harmful to our environment and add to our trash problem.

If that is reasoning for the City Council to pass such measures, I suggest Council members do the same for their political signs. The signs they post are ugly for the environment and add to the trash problem.

If they want to post signs, they should pay into the general fund some fees to cover the cost of dealing with them. It is only fair to us, but, then again, we the public never get a fair shake at anything. We just get nickel-and-dimed for everything and every law that they feel supposedly is going to help us.

Joni Kamiya
Kaneohe

Equal rights cannot be killed by a vote

According to Victor Wyman, the fact that 32 states have enacted bans on marriage equality shows that advocates of marriage equality are trying to move the country in the wrong direction ("Pitts out of step about marriage," Star-Advertiser, Letters, May 18).

However, majorities are not infallible.

At one time, polls indicated that 90 percent of the people supported laws banning interracial marriages.Those unjust, unconstitutional laws were eventually struck down by the courts, but they should not have been enacted in the first place.

Our nation’s commitment to liberty and justice for all is undermined by discriminatory laws that cater to popular prejudice and consign some Americans to second-class citizenship.

Kent Hirata
Honolulu

Many rail critics unfair to westsiders

As I read all the anti-rail letters and comments, I noticed that many live in Kahala, Hawaii Kai, Kailua and the whole windward side to Haleiwa.

But for every repair and construction that is done to the infrastructure in those areas, I never hear anyone complaining about that. Those are state projects that we as taxpayers pay for, even though we don’t use those roads or sewers.

So how can they have the gall to try and stop a project that will benefit taxpayers who don’t live in their backyard?

Contrary to popular belief out there, we are one state and our taxespay for everything, whether we use it or not.

Adrienne L. Wilson-Yamasaki Lloyd Y. Yamasaki
Wahiawa

Money spent on rail is going to waste

Now I know what it feels like to get robbed.

The city has spent $503 million since 2006 on the rail project with not a single rail in place ("City has much to lose if rail is halted," Star-Advertiser, May 27).

For that amount of money, there are projects that could have already started to reduce traffic congestion and improve the lives of Oahu residents.

The University of Hawaii-West Oahu could be educating Leeward students by providing them with a four-year degree.This alone could take more than 10,000 vehicle trips off the road every day. It is undeniable that when UH-Manoa is not in session, the traffic on H-1, especially at the critical H-1/H-2 merge, moves smoothly.

The question shouldn’t be how much the city will lose if rail is halted, but how much the city will waste should rail continue.

Garry P. Smith
Ewa Beach