Copyright 1999 Phoenix Newspapers, Inc.
THE ARIZONA
REPUBLIC
November 3, 1999 Wednesday, Final Chaser
SECTION: FRONT; Pg. A2
LENGTH: 684 words
HEADLINE: A
ROWDY FLIGHT HOME, DRUG MONEY AND FACTS OF LIFE
BYLINE: STEVE WILSON, Republic Columnist
BODY:
Janet Napolitano arrived at Boston's Logan
International Airport shortly after 6 a.m. Friday, hoping to catch a nap on the
five-hour America West flight back to Phoenix. It wasn't to be.
At the
gate, Arizona's attorney general was joined by a wide-awake group of New England
Patriots football fans, who were already getting psyched for Sunday's game with
the Cardinals with a few beers.
She buckled into her
coach seat and found herself surrounded by them. Once
airborne, the beverage
carts came out and "the libations were flowing," she
said.
"This was like traveling with a rowdy fraternity party,"
the AG added.
While she sipped orange juice, a man next to
her mixed cranberry juice,
7-Up and vodka. The fans in the seats in front of
her turned around to yuk it
up with fans seated behind her. The group soon
started singing, loudly and
profanely.
Just before 8
a.m., the plane hit a bump, and the rum and Coke of a man
behind her sloshed
down the back of her blouse.
Napolitano never identified
herself, resisting the temptation to whip out
her badge and charge them with
boorish behavior. And folks in New England
think Arizona is filled with
yahoos?
--> --> -->
In my column about Dr. C. Everett Koop, I
mentioned that he lobbied Congress
this year for Schering-Plough Corp. in
its effort to get a five-year patent
extension on its very
profitable allergy drug, Claritin.
Several readers asked if the patent has
been extended. The answer is no,
not yet anyway, but not for lack of trying.
Schering-Plough has conducted a high-priced campaign to
keep the valuable
patent from expiring in 2002, and Koop
isn't the only big name whose support
has been linked to the company's
generosity.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that
since 1996, the company has
doubled its lobbying expenses to $4 million a
year.
Earlier this year, the company persuaded Sen. Robert
Torricelli, D-N.J., to
introduce a bill extending the
patent. He did so one day after Schering-Plough
gave
$50,000 to the Democratic campaign committee he heads.
In
July, a hearing on the bill was scheduled by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah,
the
Post reported. Hatch set the hearing shortly after he announced his
presidential bid and asked Schering-Plough if he could use its Gulfstream
jet
for his campaign travel. The company was happy to oblige.
The stakes are huge. Claritin racked up sales of almost $2
billion last
year. One dose of the drug costs around $2
retail. Manufacturers of generic
drugs say their equivalent
would cost 50 cents.
--> --> -->
Barbara Guerra, the remarkable
Mesa woman I wrote about who leads a very
active life without arms, is
getting national media attention. Her story will
be told on 20/20 on Channel
15 at 9 p.m. Thursday and the Maury Povich Show on
Channel 3 next Wednesday
morning.
Barb, 23, drives a car, cares for her 3-year-old
son, plays the piano,
teaches aerobics, prepares meals and writes
beautifully with a pen between her
toes.
Both of her
arms were amputated after an electrical accident when she was
2. Her outlook
could not be more impressive.
"Everyone's got limitations,
not just me," she said. "I probably have
fewer than most people. I've
learned that if there's something I really want
to do in life, I'll find a
way."
--> --> -->
From an Internet
list of "things we learn by the time we are 50":
If you
had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not
achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be
"meetings."
When trouble arises and things look bad,
there is always one individual who
perceives a solution and is willing to
take command. Very often, that
individual is crazy.
If
there really is a God who created the entire universe with all its
glories,
and he decides to deliver a message to humanity, he will not use, as
his
messenger, a person on cable TV with a bad hairstyle.
You
should not confuse your career with your life.
LOAD-DATE: November 9, 1999
