09/07/04

LC040807

Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --

Scores of seniors climb aboard a train destined for Canada and
cheaper drugs.

>> We feel very, very deeply that we're getting ripped off and
we're getting ripped off by the American medical industry.

Val>> And then, for more than fifty years, Ray Charles had the
help of a partner, manager and friend. Meet Joe Adams, the man
behind the music legend.

All that and more straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times.

Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

Val>> The high cost of prescription drugs is forcing a lot of
Americans to make a tough choice. Do they pay more for their
prescriptions or do they break the law and buy their drugs from
Canada? A train loaded with senior citizens headed up the coast
to Canada. They're calling attention to the U.S. ban on
importing drugs and expressing their impatience with
California's failure to address runaway drug prices. Toni
Guinyard was on hand as the trip got started.

Toni Guinyard>> California is one step closer to allowing the
purchase of prescription drugs from Canada where the price is,
in some cases, a quarter of what you would pay in the United
States. The legislature gave the green light to four bills
addressing the bulk purchase of prescription drugs and the
development of a government-run internet site to compare drug
prices in the United States and Canada. The legislation was
passed just days after some determined Californians met at Union
Station in Los Angeles. They were invited to take a ride on the
Rx Express, a chartered train trip uniting twenty-four people
from California, Oregon and Washington who share one common
problem: the high price of prescription drugs.

>> My asthma medication right now is running $110 for a
diskette, which allows me sixty puffs, or just two a day, for
thirty days. That's a lot of money.

Toni Guinyard>> She and the other passengers decided to do what
so many others have done before and an increasing number of
others are doing every day: go to Canada and have their
prescriptions filled for a fraction of the price they routinely
pay at their neighborhood drugstore. A Vancouver pharmacy would
be the final destination of the Rx Express, the trip planned and
paid for by the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and
Consumer Rights.

Jerry Flanagan>> It is costing us about $20,000.

Toni Guinyard>> Jerry Flanagan is the Foundation's consumer
advocate. He says the money spent on the trip is an investment.

Jerry Flanagan>> And we know that about one out of four seniors
from California and across the country have to choose between
buying their prescriptions and paying for food and rent, while
across the border, the United States drugs are thirty to sixty
percent less in price than they are in the United States.
That's because Canada buys in bulk.

Toni Guinyard>> Flanagan makes no apologies that the Rx Express
is also serving another purpose. This journey from California
to Vancouver was done to get attention and some of the
passengers say that, if this is just one big publicity stunt,
they're more than willing to go along for the ride.

>> If being an activist is called a stunt, then it is a stunt.
We're going along because we feel very, very deeply that we're
getting ripped off and we're getting ripped off by the American
medical industry.

Toni Guinyard>> Their mission by rail was not without
criticism. Retired dentist and former Republican State
Assemblyman, Gerald Felando.

Gerald Felando>> These people have not explored all avenues
that are available to them. I think that, due to the Foundation
stirring them up and putting fear into them, they'd rather go on
a train to Canada than explore the programs that exist right
here.

Toni Guinyard>> Do you believe they're being used?

Gerald Felando>> Wholeheartedly, I believe that they're being
used.

Toni Guinyard>> The criticism was brushed aside, overshadowed
by personal accounts. Each passenger has a story and, at the
root of each story, a complaint about how much they're paying to
fill their prescriptions.

>> We bought our medicines in Mexico, in Tijuana, before we
joined our HMO. We had no co-pay on our Blue Cross PPO. We had
medicines to take. I've been buying medicine for my sister
there for fifteen years because she can't afford her medicine
here.

Jerry Flanagan>> "We should not have to go to Canada to get the
more affordable drugs that we need for our seniors and other
patients."

Toni Guinyard>> If the success of the Rx Express was to be
measured by the amount of media attention it received --

>> We're going to a doctor, we've got prescriptions. We're
going to go to a pharmacy and we're going to buy them legally
over the counter.

Toni Guinyard>> The passengers had reason to celebrate before
the train left Union Station. But even after the three-day long
journey and after the prescriptions were filled --

>> I cannot believe what we've found here. My gosh, it's
wonderful.

Toni Guinyard>> -- the celebration is tempered by the knowledge
that this is far from a long-term solution.

Jerry Flanagan>> Unfortunately, the FDA has limited seniors to
a three-month supply, so it's really a temporary relief from a
problem that these folks feel on a day-to-day basis.

David Parker>> I don't have a lot of years left on this earth
and one of the problems that I know a lot about because I've had
to deal with it is the medical care, the health care system,
especially here in California.

Toni Guinyard>> Just days before the trip, we met city of
Orange residents, Patricia and David Parker. He has faced
serious health problems.

David Parker>> I had a heart condition. I had some arteries
blocked in my heart.

Patricia Parker>> He has to start his day with thyroid. He
gets right out of bed, has to take a thyroid pill. His thyroid
was removed for a pre-cancerous condition.

David Parker>> Then I had -- maybe as a result of the two
surgeries -- I came down with kidney stones that just about
wiped me out, but I had surgery for that.

Toni Guinyard>> They went along for the ride on the Rx Express
to make a point and speak out against rising health insurance
costs.

Patricia Parker>> We've been fortunate. We've had -- when push
came to shove, I was able to write a check to pay the premium
out of my home equity line.

Toni Guinyard>> The couple says they've spent $25,000 in two
years to maintain their health insurance.

Patricia Parker>> When they raised our rate forty percent last
year, it became overwhelming. We actually had to go down and
apply for our social security a year and a half earlier than we
would have liked to in order to make the payments and that, of
course, is now affecting the amount that we collect the rest of
our lives.

Jerry Flanagan>> The number one thing that we're trying to get
across with this trip is that affording prescription drugs and
dealing with high-cost healthcare is not about low-income
seniors. It's about everybody. The Parkers are a great example
because what is happening with those folks is that their
premiums are going through the roof.

Toni Guinyard>> The Parkers trace the problem to prescription
drug costs.

Patricia Parker>> I certainly don't begrudge the money for his
medications. I do begrudge our having to go to Canada or Mexico
or other countries for our drugs. They have the same drugs that
we have. They say it's the research and development costs.

David Parker>> I would expect that we'll be dead and gone when
the system is running the way it really should. I like people
and if I can make the system better for my twelve grandchildren
that are growing up, then I'll know I've accomplished something
besides bringing them into the world.

Toni Guinyard>> David Parker is determined to do what he can to
fix a system that has cost him thousands, but gives him reasons
to fight for change, fueled by the three-day long journey to
Vancouver, Canada with strangers who believe collectively that
they made a difference.

Val>> A group of California pharmacies has also joined in the
fight against high drug prices. They have sued a dozen drug
manufacturers for allegedly conspiring to keep United States
drug prices high.

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Val>> You know him best from his appearances on CNN's
"Crossfire", but now journalist and commentator, Michael
Kinsley, has a new job. He will put his imprint on Southern
California as head of the Op-Ed pages for the Los Angeles Times.
First, welcome to Los Angeles. It's wonderful to have you here.
Some real star power at the Los Angeles Times.

Michael Kinsley>> Well, you don't need more star power down
here. I don't add very much either.

Val>> But you do come with a really interesting background.
Obviously, you know, the New Republic and all your writing for
the most prestigious magazines in the country. But Slate
Magazine was the first real online magazine and you were the
head of it. What did you learn there and why did you decide to
come back to print?

Michael Kinsley>> Well, people are saying I'm moving backward
technologically, but I think in the long run content is going to
be content and different media will be up to the individual and
the Los Angeles Times will be online as much as it is on paper.
I did it because it's one of the two most interesting jobs on
the West Coast and I had already had the other one.

Val>> What do you hope to do with the Los Angeles Times Op-Ed
page? Are you going to change it much? Are you going to take
it from something to something, and what would that be? From
where to where?

Michael Kinsley>> Well, first of all, we have more than the Op-
Ed page in this department. We have the Editorial page, we have
the Op-Ed page and we have the Sunday Opinion section. I have a
notion that editorials can be a better way to learn about a
subject than news stories in a certain sense. That sense is
that you don't have to be restricted in what you can say by the
conventions of objectivity. Now that sounds like I'm saying,
you know, you can be biased and have a slanted point of view.
That's not what I mean.

What I mean is that, if you don't have to look over your
shoulder all the time, you can reach a conclusion and that frees
you to be clearer in describing a problem. I hope that a good
Los Angeles Times editorial will enable people to decide for
themselves whether they agree with it. It will give them a
framework of analysis. It will give them not only our point of
view, but how we arrived at it, and it will leave them able to
say, you know, they've got it right, or, you know, they have it
wrong for this reason, which would be something they would not
be able to do if they hadn't read it.

Val>> You're known to be generally on the liberal side. I
think you've also been called a contrarian. Does that basically
give people who believe that there is a liberal bias in the
media more ammunition to say, see, look who they put in charge
of the Los Angeles Times?

Michael Kinsley>> The Editorial page is a place where you're
supposed to have opinions. Now there's a lot of nonsense about
bias, especially liberal bias, if I may say so. Journalists are
smart people who are interested in public affairs. Are they
going to have opinions about the things they cover? Of course.
You do, I do. If they didn't, they'd be idiots. People accuse
you of bias as a journalist who themselves are just red hot with
opinions, but they think that you shouldn't have them. What a
good reporter does is put his or her opinions aside to the best
of his or her ability and I think, in the Los Angeles Times,
they do it very well. The Editorial page is different. This is
a place where we express our opinions, but I hope we do it with
reasons and with analysis, and to call it bias is just silly.

Val>> The country has a major decision here to make in the next
presidential election. I can somewhat predict which way the Los
Angeles Times is going to go because you've been very critical
of President Bush. Is that going to be sort of a standard
position?

Michael Kinsley>> The Los Angeles Times doesn't endorse for
presidents and there are historical reasons for that. It's a
little nutty, but I think we're going to keep that tradition. I
think you might be able to guess who most of the people who
write the editorials are going to vote for. My plan now is
actually to run two editorials, two sort of pseudo editorials.
If we were going to endorse Bush, here is what we would say.
And if we were going to endorse Kerry, here's what we would say.
I may write the Bush one, although I'll be honest that I'm going
to vote for Kerry -- I mean, depending on what might happen in
the next couple of months -- but it will be a good intellectual
exercise to force me to think about the case for Bush, and we're
going to get someone to do the same for Kerry.

Val>> Have you had some opinions and some points of view that
have been contrary to Democratic liberals?

Michael Kinsley>> Well, sure. One I can think of, although
it's an odd one, is trade. I'm very, very Free Trade, very,
very skeptical of the complaints about out-sourcing. But the
politics of trade keep changing. I spent six years doing this
show, "Crossfire", on CNN, most of it against Pat Buchanan whom
I'm sure your viewers have interesting opinions about. When we
started the show, it was complicating to the producers. They
really didn't like it that I was pro Free Trade because they
thought pro Free Trade is conservative, protectionism is
liberal, and Pat was very pro Free Trade. Then he underwent
this weird transformation which, you know, led him to run for
president and to pick feuds with all his old friends. He came
back from summer vacation one summer as a protectionist and then
the producers were very happy because then they could say that
Free Trade liberal protectionism conservatives.

Val>> Now you've dealt with national issues, presidential
campaigns, but here in Los Angeles we're facing some very
serious issues that affect Los Angeles and the whole region.
What are the particular issues that you're going to look at that
you think are especially important?

Michael Kinsley>> Immigration is the classic one. I think the
Los Angeles Times has an obligation to have a clear position on
immigration.

Val>> What might that be?

Michael Kinsley>> Well, I can honestly say that I don't know.
My heart is very clear. I'm here because of immigration and so
is practically everybody. You know, "Give me your tired, your
poor" really appeals to me as the great thing -- or certainly
one of them -- about America. I don't have the guts to say, as
The Wall Street Journal editorial page does, open the borders,
period. I would like to --

Val>> -- The Wall Street Journal says that?

Michael Kinsley>> Yes, they say that. I mean, that would be
great. I can't honestly say there's no problem, but that's
where my sympathies are. Other people on the editorial board
actually feel very differently and it's going to be a lot of fun
untangling that. That's one of our projects for the next year.

Val>> Well, Michael Kinsley, we wish you the best of luck.

Michael Kinsley>> Thank you.

Val>> Hope you don't get too much hate mail, although maybe
that's always a good indicator (laughter).

Michael Kinsley>> Well, it's part of the job.

Val>> (Laughter) Part of the job. Thank you so much.

Michael Kinsley>> Thank you.

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Val>> When Ray Charles died, the world lost a musical genius,
but Joe Adams lost a lot more. Adams was Charles's partner,
manager and friend for more than fifty years. In fact, it was
Adams who designed the Ray Charles Studios which were recently
declared an historic landmark. That's where Hena Cuevas met Joe
Adams, the man behind Ray Charles.

[Film Clip]

Hena Cuevas>> Ray Charles, a music legend, his voice recognized
the world over, and behind every great artist is a great
manager. Joe Adams was the man behind the man. He knew Charles
better than anyone else, having spent almost half a century by
his side as his business manager.

Joe Adams>> Well, we never had a contract or anything, not even
a handshake.

Hena Cuevas>> He started his career as an announcer in Los
Angeles, eventually having one of the most successful radio
shows of the time. It was here that he first met the young, up
and coming performer named Ray Charles.

Joe Adams>> He made his first record and he came on my show one
day. He was earthy. I didn't think he was exceptional. He was
good and then I forgot about him.

Hena Cuevas>> It would be more than ten years before both men
would meet again. Adams went on to have a successful career as
a theater and film actor. He was Frank Sinatra's psychiatrist
on "The Manchurian Candidate".

[Film Clip]

Hena Cuevas>> Because of his theater experience, he was invited
to join Ray Charles's Big Band Tour in 1969. His original
contract, he says, was only for six months.

Joe Adams>> Six months came and went and a year came and went,
two years, three years. When Ray passed, we had forty-seven
years.

Hena Cuevas>> For nearly five decades, Adams guided Charles's
career. One of his proudest achievements was changing the stage
lighting to improve the mood during the concerts.

[Film Clip]

Joe Adams>> I showed it to him with hand motions like cross-
fading like this, and he knew what I was doing because he could
feel the difference in the audience and the mood of the
audience.

Hena Cuevas>> Adams also became a fashion designer of sorts,
designing all of Ray Charles's signature jackets.

Joe Adams>> (Laughter) Please understand that he was a genius
of music. I am not a genius. I would take my designs from a
figure I'd see on a tablecloth or -- don't ask.

Hena Cuevas>> His biggest challenge, though, was what the
backup singers, the Raylettes, were going to wear.

[Film Clip]

Hena Cuevas>> According to Adams, Charles chose the singers
based on how they sounded, not on how they looked, which proved
a bit of a challenge for the rookie designer.

Joe Adams>> He might have a young lady there that was sixteen
with measurements of 24-24-24 standing next to a young lady who
was thirty-five with measurements of 45-55-55. Well, it's hard
to put these two ladies in the same dress. I can't put them all
in a miniskirt because maybe one has huge thighs and the other
has slim sticks, you know.

Hena Cuevas>> The studio where they worked together for more
than forty-five years still stands in South Central Los Angeles
and, according to his staff, there are signs Mr. Charles, as
they affectionately called him, is still around. When Ray
Charles was alive, he had the habit of coming in on weekends to
work and leaving all the sound equipment and lights on. Today,
inexplicably they say, it's still happening.

Joe Adams>> The girls still walk around the office and say, "I
don't think I'll go into that room today. Mr. Charles is in
that room today. We're giving him free rein in that room."
They say "I know I turned that light out last night and it's on
today."

Hena Cuevas>> It was here that Charles recorded for the last
time.

Joe Adams>> It was not recorded with the intentions that this
is his last recording or with the feeling that it was his last
recording.

Ray Charles>> "I'll sing the first verse. You sing the second.
I'll sing the bridge or whatever you call that."

Hena Cuevas>> This is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of
Ray Charles's final CD. "Genius Loves Company" features twelve
duets with various artists from different music genres. The CD
has Ray Charles singing with Willie Nelson.

[Film Clip]

Hena Cuevas>> And B.B. King.

[Film Clip]

Hena Cuevas>> For Adams, this release is bittersweet.

Joe Adams>> He might have known it was his last recording. He
never said it to anyone. I don't think he did because he was
actually preparing to go out on his tour. This was like a
football game. It was sudden death.

Hena Cuevas>> Ray Charles died of liver disease three months
after the recording. He was seventy-three years old. Despite
his incredible success, he also had his trials, among them,
alcohol abuse. His studio was recently declared an historic
monument by the city of Los Angeles. Adams wants it to serve as
an inspiration to the young people in the community who may also
be facing challenges.

Joe Adams>> We'd like to have it set so that they'll look at
this man as an inspiration who was black, born in the south, who
was an orphan, who was addicted, who was all of these things,
who was blind, and managed to be a millionaire.

Hena Cuevas>> The studio will stay just as Ray Charles left it,
as a tribute to the memories that were created here. Adams
wants to make sure his musical legacy is kept alive.

Joe Adams>> We don't really look at it as remembering him. I
don't think we know he's gone.

[Film Clip]

Val>> And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at
Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.

Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

Val>> Next time on Life and Times, one local family played a
key role in the struggle for civil rights and it's about time
they get some recognition.

>> I didn't like it because of the obvious reason. They didn't
want us there, so where you're not wanted, you really don't want
to be there.

Val>> That's next time on Life and Times.