Update 12-6-11

Hi,

Happy Chanukah, which always means I need to figure out how to spell it again.  And sorry about the mailing confusion last week.  I thought I had AOL figured out, but I must have slipped something wrong into the codes.  I did realize my problem with Google is you don't use parentheses around blind addresses, the way you do with AOL.

This week's mail, first, from Jerry Bittman:  A very Happy Birthday to Barney Zinger, who turned 65 on December 4th.  Barney's age finally caught up to the year he graduated.
    I will be spending Christmas in beautiful colorful Colorado.  I was there in October and got to see Artie Halprin.  Hopefully, we can do that again, and if there are any other South High alum in the area, please get in contact with either Artie or me, and maybe we can chill out together.  This holds true for anyone who's coming to Colorado to ski over the holidays.
    My daughter Abby was involved in a car accident this past Thursday in Boulder, Colorado.  The name of the street she was on is called "Lookout Road."  Thank God she is OK, but her car was totaled.  She wasn't even moving.  She was stopped at a red light.  But some idiot was driving too fast on an icy road.

Next, from Jay Berliner:  I have neglected to mention that my oldest daughter Michelle ran in the New York City Marathon for the first time and finished under 4 1/2 hours.  I think it was a great accomplishment, and it was very exciting to watch.  We saw her at three different locations, and you can’t understand the energy of the crowd unless you were there.

From Larry Rugen: We have a new grandchild, born October 11th.  He's our first, and his name is Richard Alan Letterio.
    Also, my wife and I returned on September 18th from four days in Rome and a seven-day Mediterranean cruise.  Wow.  It was the best vacation to date and was memorable for the sites, the history, and the heat!  Ephesus, Turkey, was one of the best sites because you walk directly into and around the ruins from thousands of years past.  We did a private land tour, not booked through the ship, and that was a great choice since our tour guide took us to the best places to see in the one day we had on land in Turkey.
    I'm still working but wish I could retire now.  Perhaps in another two years.  We also have a house in Spring Hill, Florida, which we plan to rent for a few years and then use in the winters after our retirement.
    Best to all.

[Rich -- when I wrote Larry congratulating him and his family on the new grandson, I asked if the name Richard was finally making a comeback after Mr. Nixon trounced it.  But, no:  Larry's grandson's name is actually Richard Alan Letterio, Junior.  That's about the only way a kid gets named Richard these days.]

From Andy Dolich, a few weeks back:  Good Morning, Vietnam!  Greetings from Hanoi, where I'm reading the latest South newsletter.  Chao!

[Rich -- I asked Andy what he was doing in Vietnam since many of us so studiously avoided going there some forty years ago.]

Andy wrote back:  Needed to see where my draft lottery number could have taken me.

[Rich -- For the record, Andy's number was 337.  Alan Finder's was 331.  Mine was 226.  Our birthdays are clumped in the middle of February.  None of us were going anywhere at the government's request.]

And just so this doesn't seem to be an all-guy edition, from Tiertza-leah (Debby) Schwartz, class of '68:  Recently, when I was in Valley Stream, I noticed the closing sign at Central Hardware and was saddened because I, too, have many memories of going there with my dad to get some type of little widget.  He was not handy at all, but the staff always found something to help him.  We did not refer to it as "Central Hardware" but called it "Oppies."  I remember my parents explaining that the owners were Holocaust survivors.  Because of that, it was an important point of Jewish pride to support "Oppies".

[Rich -- Back to guys again.  When I asked Marc Fishman about Jim Lorey's dad, I also asked Marc what he's been doing lately.  After he told me, I asked if I could put it in the newsletter because it's really useful information.  He agreed but wanted everyone to know that I asked for this information, and he didn't want to sound promotional.  Marc, you're way too modest.]

From Marc Fishman:  A few years ago, a colleague at a large insurance company asked if I could help them with oncology management.  I was retired from clinical practice, so I had the time.  Oncology Analytics is the result of that.
    Please take a look at our web site:  www . oncologyanalytics . com  (remove the spaces).  We are succeeding in our goal of improving care and reducing cost. 
    Oncology Analytics is a utilization management company focusing on oncology, especially oncology drugs.  Some of the drugs now cost $40,000 per dose, and many cost $5,000 to $10,000 per dose, often given monthly.  Part of the problem is that the profit to the particular doctor is directly proportional to the cost of the drugs.  So, if there are two treatments that are equally effective, doctors might choose the one that costs $5,000 per month -- about $300 profit on the drugs -- instead of the one that cost $500 -- a $30 profit.  It might not seem like much, but there is a huge amount of waste, probably over $500,000,000 per month, just on the drugs to treat cancer.  Our goal is to change the way doctors are paid for the drugs, to encourage efficient and proper use of them, and, ultimately, to have an influence on drug pricing nationally.  It has been interesting, but we are doing well.
    There is also very strong marketing promoting the more expensive medicines, and no one promotes the generics.  I have learned that, nowadays, pharmaceutical companies design trials with the weakest possible control groups and then go to countries like Bangladesh to do the studies.  Not only is it cheaper, but they can use very weak control groups, so it's easier to show that their new drug is better than "the control" group.  Such weak control groups could not be used in the United States because it would be malpractice.  After the drug is approved, Medicare and insurers must pay for it, and there is no control in the United States that says how much.  Thus, a new prostate cancer drug costs $30,000 per dose and a new melanoma drug costs $40,000 per dose.  It's greedy, and it's crazy.
    Also, last week, the Director of Medical Oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center, one of the twenty-one centers in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, joined our Academic Advisory Board.  It's pretty exciting.

[Rich -- That's why I said Marc was being modest.
    Also, there's one more piece of backlogged mail, but it's long and will have to wait another week.]

The South '65 e-mail addresses: reunionclass65 . blogspot . com

The South '65 photo site: picasaweb . google . com / SouthHS65

As usual, please delete the spaces.


Rich