Danielle Levy

Indian Tribes have long been in the gambling business owning casinos in several states. Now in California they are getting into the pay-day loan business. Given their sovereignty they’ve been able to prevail over state authorities and unless the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau gets involved, will continue to have their way. In some cases, it is possible that the tribes may be being paid by non-Indian lenders to offer the protection of their sovereign status so that the actual owners may avoid state regulations. There’s something sad and troubling about all this, as it was when the tribes chose gambling as a source of revenue. I remember the comment of a former professor, an African American very sensitive to the limited choices of all minorities given the extent of prejudice, “that’s all they had left.” Nonetheless I wish they could have made other choices. Although I believe in the right of individuals to beat to the sound of a different drummer, I find these choices at odds with the spiritual underpinning of Indian tribes. The lore of the elders is admired by so many as examples of wisdom, love or stewardship of the earth. There’s still poverty, despair and numerous problems on reservations and the wealth of the tribes has not helped everyone. Yet, even if I could understand the choice of gambling given the conditions that gave it rise and the fact no other business could have yielded such profits, it’s harder to understand involvement in pay-day loans, an industry known for many abuses and for preying upon those who are often the least able to repay.

Gleevec, a cancer drug often used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia, costs above $100,000 a year. Now over 100 specialists from 15 countries specializing in this cancer have written Novartis, the drug’s manufacturer and other pharmaceuticals, in an attempt to persuade them to bring the cost down. They put forth the idea that such a high price for a drug to keep someone alive is profiteering, and liken that to huge price increases after a disaster. The doctors point out that in 2001 when Gleevec first went on the market, it cost $30,000 a year, and that now that it has more than tripled in price, there are other drugs which can compete with it but which are even more expensive. Before she died unexpectedly in an accident, my sister, who had rheumatoid arthritis, was being watched for this cancer. Her co-pay for her RA drugs was already $1000 a month and I used to wonder how we would manage when or if the cancer would manifest itself. It’s therefore easy for me to translate these prices into family situations and tragedies. There is an estimated 1.2 to 1.5 million people in the world with this cancer. Novartis’s answer was that it has given the drug free to 5000 uninsured or under insured people and provided 50,000 with free drugs in low income countries. Seems a drop in the bucket especially given that Gleevec’s sales of $4.7 billion in 2012 was Novartis’s best selling drug. It’s going to take a lot more than a letter from 100 doctors (including one who helped develop Gleevec) to solve the problem, but it is a hopeful beginning.

There may be a group that is more reviled than sex offenders, but it’s hard to find. That’s why Janice Belllucci’s work with them is so impressive. She got involved out of compassion after talking to the person who installed a water purifier for her and learning how hard life had been for him since leaving prison. She read his book and began working for the rights of the registrants, those whom others call sex offenders and who have by law to register their whereabouts. A lawyer, who used to work in aerospace, she thinks of the issues surrounding those who are no longer in prison as civil rights. Many cities have tried to restrict their whereabouts so much so that of the 88,000 offenders in the state of California, about one third are homeless. She agrees that what they did requires prison time, but she thinks they need to be able to have a chance to reenter society if they are not to become repeat offenders. She’s the president of the California chapter of Reform Sex Offenders Laws and when Simi Valley tried to pass a law requiring sex offenders to post signs of their front door warning trick or treaters, she was able to get them not to pass the law. Her efforts aren’t popular in certain circles and that’s why Janice Bellucci’s work is not only needed but has to be respected.