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Life & Times Transcript
10/31/05 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- Two ballot propositions aimed to lower prescription drug costs, but do they go far enough? Ivan Dryer>> I have borrowed about twenty-five thousand dollars in personal loans, another fifteen or twenty thousand that are owed for credit cards and several thousand in back medical bills. Val Zavala>> And then, from a child's keepsake to a soldier's gear. We preview a museum that's preserving the memory of the Cold War. It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times. Announcer>> 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. Sam Louie>> The battle over prescription drug prices in California is coming to a head on the November ballot. Propositions 78 and 79 both claim to offer drug discounts. One is supported by the pharmaceutical industry, the other by consumer groups. Ivan Dryer and his fifty-eight year old wife, Carol, of Van Nuys are desperately looking to get some relief from high prescription drug costs. Carol was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis sixteen years ago. She's now confined to a wheelchair and takes numerous medications. Ivan Dryer>> She takes pills every day, about half a dozen, and then I give her a shot every Sunday. Her drugs are very, very expensive. Those two in particular, the ones that are injected, and then the one that fills the pump. They total about fourteen thousand dollars a year between them. Sam Louie>> Ivan says he also takes medication for chronic fatigue syndrome and nerve pain after suffering a back injury many years ago. Ivan Dryer>> And then it costs me a hundred seventy-two a month for my Medi-Cal prescriptions. Sam Louie>> Even after their insurance, the Dryers end up spending six thousand dollars a year in prescription drugs. As a way to save money, Ivan resorts to skipping his medication now and then. Ivan Dryer>> I take it every other day. A lot of people do that. Sam Louie>> How does it affect you on the days when you're not on the medicine? Ivan Dryer>> Usually there's enough in your system that there is a holdover so that you still coast a little bit, but the average is kind of lower, so you're not functioning quite as well as you would have. Sam Louie>> To pay for the drugs, they say they've given up their old lifestyle of traveling and sightseeing and now live like hermits. Ivan Dryer>> We don't eat as much as we used to. I generally find that, if I have to spend more than a dollar per person per meal, then it's too much and so I've become the king of all shoppers. Carol Dryer>> Ivan always says we can't do that, we can't do this, so I said, well, just put at the bottom line that we can't do anything. We just can't do anything. Nothing is the order of business. Just doing nothing. Sam Louie>> Despite the penny-pinching, they say they're in deep debt with creditors constantly hounding them. Ivan Dryer>> In order to keep going here and keep ourselves going, I have borrowed about twenty-five thousand dollars in personal loans, another fifteen or twenty thousand that are owed for credit cards and several thousand in back medical bills. Sam Louie>> But the Dryers could get some much-needed help. On the ballot this November are two propositions promising to lower prescription drug costs for millions of Californians, Proposition 78 and Proposition 79. Matt Klink>> Proposition 78 which is a voluntary prescription drug program that will provide immediate assistance to approximately five million Californians who currently don't have insurance or who are under-insured. Anthony Wright>> Proposition 79 uses a simple concept which is that the state of California should use its purchasing power to get the best price for Californians. Sam Louie>> While both measures would offer Californians a prescription drug discount, there are differences in how many Californians would benefit. Proposition 78, backed by the pharmaceutical industry, would help five million Californians with drug discounts of up to forty percent. Proposition 79 is sponsored by consumer groups. It would help twice that many people, up to ten million Californians. So why are the numbers different? Because each measure has different qualifying income levels. Under Proposition 78, the highest income you can earn and still qualify is fifty-six thousand per family. Proposition 79 allows middle-class families earning up to seventy-five thousand dollars to participate. There's another big difference. Proposition 78 would be voluntary for the drug companies. Proposition 79 would pressure drug companies to offer the discount. Anthony Wright is with Health Access California, which supports Proposition 79. He says, if drug companies don't offer the discount, then they could be excluded from the four billion dollar Medi-Cal program. Anthony Wright>> We can use that to leverage better discounts by having the purchasing power of the four billion dollars that we pay for drugs in the Medi-Cal program to try to negotiate saying that if the drug companies don't participate, they will lose business. Sam Louie>> But Matt Klink, who is a spokesman for Proposition 78, says that using Medi-Cal, a program for the state's poor, is not a good way to encourage discounts. Matt Klink>> What Proposition 79 supporters are doing is leveraging society's most needy, the poor, the disabled, the blind, etc., to try to get cheaper prescription drugs for people that already have prescription drug insurance in many cases. Sam Louie>> And Klink says that voluntary programs do work. He points to a discount program that's been in place since January. Matt Klink>> It's working in the state of Ohio right now. All of the pharmaceutical companies are participating in the program and discounts are running at thirty percent. Sam Louie>> Klink says there's another reason to vote no on Proposition 79. There's a clause that allows people to sue drug companies for illegal profiteering. Matt Klink>> It allows trial lawyers to pursue frivolous lawsuits because the measure throws around terms like "unconscionable profits" and "unjust and unreasonable". Basically, it would allow trial lawyers to sue pharmaceutical manufacturers or pharmacists anytime a prescription is filled because of those terms that I just mentioned, but it doesn't define those terms. Sam Louie>> Drug manufacturers are investing heavily in their version of the prescription drug plan. According to campaign finance reports, the pharmaceutical industry has raised eighty million dollars in support of Proposition 78. By comparison, consumer advocacy groups have collected just two million dollars for their cause. Political Advertisement>> "Proposition 79 creates a big new government program. It lets bureaucrats decide what medications. . ." Sam Louie>> The first TV ads by the drug industry hit the air waves in the middle of August. Political Advertisement>> "For real help right now, it's Prop 78." Anthony Wright>> The drug companies are trying to protect their ability to price-gouge Californians. They're going to flood the air waves with millions of dollars of advertising attacking Prop 79 because they see this as a national priority since they've been able to charge Americans so much more than people in other countries. At the end of the day, this is a David and Goliath fight, but we like to remember that David won. Matt Klink>> We will spend whatever money it takes to communicate the message of why Prop 78 is real prescription drug reform and why it will provide benefits immediately. Sam Louie>> As for the Dryers, even though they must watch every penny, there's a growing sense of optimism with the upcoming special election. They plan on voting for Proposition 79, since they're skeptical of the drug industry. Carol Dryer>> I'm not sure that they're going to do anything because I used to be a nurse and I've seen that they don't do anything unless they're forced to. Sam Louie>> It's estimated that Americans now spend over two hundred billion dollars a year on prescription drugs. Supporters of the two propositions see their form of legislation as a way to keep those costs in check and give Americans the price break they deserve. I'm Sam Louie for Life and Times. Announcer>> Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org and click on "Life and Times". Val Zavala>> She was living the American dream, a beautiful family and a comfortable life in Beverly Hills, but nothing prepared Brenda Freiberg for what she would have to endure, the loss of not one, but two sons to AIDS, and that has taken her life in an entirely new direction. Brenda Freiberg lives in an elegant high-rise in Westwood. By all appearances, she has it made, a successful husband, her own career in communications, and a mother to three beautiful children. Then in 1986, everything changed. Brenda Freiberg>> I've lost two sons to AIDS. My older son was diagnosed back in 1986. Val Zavala>> Then a year later, her second son, Michael. Brenda Freiberg>> My boys were diagnosed a year apart. They died almost five years apart. Val Zavala>> Did you feel at that point too much for me to bear? Why me? Brenda Freiberg>> I went through all of that and came to terms with I don't know why. I really did. I found some peace with that. Val Zavala>> Just accepting that you don't know why. Brenda Freiberg>> Just accepting, yeah, that there's something bigger, and through it all, the strangest thing is I gained faith. Val Zavala>> Perhaps it was that something bigger that gave her the strength to take action. Brenda Freiberg>> I got involved in all aspects. I got involved in treatment. I got involved in education. I got involved in direct services. I went to Washington a lot and lobbied. The first time we went to a march, it was not long after the diagnosis. It was at the Federal Building. I was terrified that my parents would see us on TV (laughter). There was this grown-up woman with grown-up children and I was just terrified (laughter). Val Zavala>> But Brenda did more than march. This is Bombay, India, now renamed Mumbai. India, with more than five million people infected, is second only to South Africa in AIDS cases. And in India, the face of AIDS is much harsher. Through a series of events and contacts, Brenda made a trip to India. She met the doctor who in 1986 had documented India's first AIDS case, the same year her son was diagnosed. Now Brenda makes three or four trips to India each year. She works with the YRG Clinic in Chennai, India. Brenda remembers her first meeting with HIV-positive women. Brenda Freiberg>> I walked in and there were about twenty around a large square conference table in their vivid colors and their eyes just full of pain and anxiety and hope, fear. Everything was written there and it was all I could do to keep from just bursting into tears. These women were looking at me as though I were their savior and I wanted to just go away. You know, here my dream of trying to help women in great need was on the verge of becoming a reality and I just thought who am I to think, you know, that I can do anything like this or make a difference? Val Zavala>> But she has. The YRG Clinic has teamed up with AIDS Project L.A. They've received major support from the MAC Aids Fund, MAC as in the makeup company. The clinic provides not just medicine, but support for families and all-important sex education. Brenda Freiberg>> Well, usually it starts with the men. A lot of the men are truck drivers. They're out on the road for several months at a time. It is common for them to have sexual relations at the truck stops. They go home and they don't tell their wives and the wives, even if they're educated, have absolutely no ability to negotiate safe sex. The sex worker is very aware of AIDS, very aware of the significance of using condoms. Very difficult for them to do so because the men will say no and either they lose, you know, a client or they will earn less if they require them to wear the condom. Val Zavala>> This report from Frontline/World interviewed sex workers and brothel owners in India. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> And aren't the men afraid of contracting HIV? Brenda Freiberg>> Some are afraid of contracting. The message is getting through, but they're turning then often to sex with young men who ride in the trucks with them. You know, there's denial that there's homosexuality. It's called MSM, men who have sex with men. That's how they refer to it. But, you know, it just gets spread. This denial is really dangerous. I've heard people say that, for women, one of the highest risks for HIV is being married. Val Zavala>> But there has been progress, especially in Calcutta. Unlike Mumbai, aggressive education programs and a willingness to speak frankly has resulted in dramatically fewer AIDS cases in Calcutta. Brenda Freiberg>> There have been some wonderful things in India, one of them unionizing the sex workers in Calcutta. I think some terrific things have come from that because they banded together and they all said, you know, no condom, no sex. I think that made a lot of difference. The same thing has not been done in Bombay, for example. I understand there are a hundred thousand sex workers. Val Zavala>> The YRG Clinic in Chennai has treated between ten and twelve thousand patients, but the need worldwide is huge. Brenda Freiberg>> Thirty million have died. Forty million are ill with this disease. I just read today that there may be as many as thirty nine million more dead in five to ten years. It is the largest thing that's happened to our world since the Plague and, you know, we all read in the books about the impact that had on the economy, on the cultures, on the society. That's what's happening here. Everyone knows somebody who's been affected by AIDS which means that we all realize that we're touched by it. You know, we joke or talk about how we're global. We are. We really are. Our economies, our cultures, are beginning to be totally interwoven which means that we are tied some way or another to every other person. I know it sounds overblown, but I really believe it's true. Those poor mothers are no different from me. I guarantee you that their broken hearts and my broken heart are exactly the same. Val Zavala>> If you'd like more information about the YRG Clinic in India, you can call AIDS Project L.A. or go to their website at apla.org. Announcer>> To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Val Zavala>> The Cold War stretched over fifty years. It was a tense and frightening time and no one is sorry it's over. But that doesn't mean it has to be forgotten. Now in a nondescript building in Culver City, one of the largest collections of Cold War artifacts is coming together. It's at a museum called Wende. Wende in German means change, as in the fall of Communism. Saul Gonzalez takes us inside. Saul Gonzalez>> For much of the twentieth century, a divided Berlin was a city synonymous with Cold War tensions, a place that was both a flash point and prize in the struggle between east and west. However, contemporary Berlin, now the capital of the united Germany, is putting those Iron Curtain memories behind it. What little that still stands of the Berlin Wall, once so feared and formidable, is now largely ignored. Its sorry state a testament to just how quickly Cold War history is fading away across eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Yet six thousand miles away from Berlin in this nondescript office complex in Culver City, that history is being saved. [Film Clip] Saul Gonzalez>> This is the Wende Museum, home to one of the world's largest collections of Cold War artifacts and archives, all from countries that once made up the former East Bloc. How big is this collection, Justin? Justin Jampol>> There are approximately thirty thousand items. Saul Gonzalez>> Justin Jampol has had a passion for Cold War history since he was a child. He's the founder and Director of the museum which he established in 2002. Justin Jampol>> The mission of the museum is to investigate something we know little about, which is during the Cold War which affected the whole world, how people lived on the other side of the wall. Saul Gonzalez>> The Wende Museum's collection goes beyond monuments, the dauntless Communist heroes and heroic proletarian workers. Jampol and his colleagues have also filled this repository with artifacts that detail ordinary life in the former East Bloc from a display of children's toys and school books to this re-creation of a Communist official's office. What's on display, though, pales in comparison to what's in storage. Justin Jampol>> This is the warehouse. This is the vault. This is where we keep all of our artifacts. When they first come here, this is when they are first unpacked and then processed. Saul Gonzalez>> This warehouse is a treasure chest of Cold War memorabilia from signs and placards to uniforms to consumer goods. Some of the most extraordinary items are some of the humblest, like these stamps. Justin Jampol>> These are Berlin Wall stamps. These were stamps that were used at the various checkpoints throughout the East. This is specific here to East Germany. These are very, very important items. Saul Gonzalez>> Why? Justin Jampol>> During that time, they controlled who got in and who got out. Saul Gonzalez>> The keys to the kingdom, so to speak? Justin Jampol>> The keys to the kingdom. This reflects something we've been trying hard to do, which is revealing the human cost of the Cold War. This is not an abstraction, but really has real effect on the daily lives of those who lived through this period. Saul Gonzalez>> The Wende Museum's small staff receives thirty to seventy new items a week which are all carefully examined and recorded before they're inserted into the permanent collection. Many of the items are given to the museum by individuals in Europe and the former Soviet Union who want to ensure that the world they lived in is not forgotten. Chief curator, Kelly Ann Kolar, is most struck by what people give from their youth. Kelly Ann Kolar>> I really like the children's items. I love the toys and a lot of that stuff. It's interesting because so much of it is even reminiscent of toys I had as a child here growing up in Los Angeles, but sometimes they'll be just a little bit different. It is important sometimes to see the personal side and the fact that, you know, these people were just like us. They had, you know, normal lives. There might have been all the politics in the way and there was, you know, other problems, but it's kind of good to learn about other cultures and how similar they might have been and how they might have been different, but how it's just still people. Saul Gonzalez>> This museum's mission goes beyond simply collecting and cataloging the icons, symbols and products of long-dead Communist regimes. It's also trying to explore the distinctive culture created by totalitarian societies, a culture that's often used by the state to stay in power and silence dissent. Justin Jampol>> This was a culture that depended heavily on symbolism and iconography. These were integrated into all different aspects of daily life, into everything that was produced which, of course, was all produced by the state. Saul Gonzalez>> Art was one powerful instrument of propaganda in state control with many works filled with Marxist-Leninist symbolism. That is clear in this 1967 Soviet painting titled "In the Meadows". Striding forward, the walk forward, plays a big role in Soviet era art and art of Eastern Europe. Justin Jampol>> Right, and what's also very important is not only striding forward, but striding forward to what? And you'll see over here that they're striding forward towards what looks like the land, but also if you look at the shapes of the clouds, they are in the shapes of Europe, Asia and Africa. This is really what their idea of what their mission was, not only to cultivate the lands within the country, but beyond the borders. They wanted to push the agenda, the ideology, of socialism and bring it really around the world. Saul Gonzalez>> Years after the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe, this museum's stance is now in a race against time and neglect to save Cold War history. Justin Jampol>> Each time I go back to Berlin, there is something else. There is another building, another collection, that's gone, that's disappeared. We want to teach people about this and it's crucial for us to preserve these items to make sure that these items - not only items, but the archival collections -- are around so that people will never forget. [Film Clip] Saul Gonzalez>> This museum not only wants to create an invaluable historical record, it also wants to honor the memory of those who endured the hardships of the Cold War. For Life and Times, I'm Saul Gonzalez. Val Zavala>> If you'd like more information on the Wende Museum, you can go to their website at wendemuseum.org -- that's W-e-n-d-e -- or give them a call. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Announcer>> 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. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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