Let's all be like MIKE!
I was in my doctor's office when I noticed Michael Milken standing with strapping young Planoite Lance Armstrong on the cover of Fortune Magazine. It seems Mr. Milken, once the most reviled figure among an unbelievable cast of reviled figures in the finance world, has redeemed himself by getting cancer and then acting extremely entitled about it. After an arduous 22 months in prison (who's a real man NOW, Martha Stewart?), Milken, one of the key players in the savings and loan scandals that rocked the American financial landscape during previous Bush presidencies, was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and DEMANDED to be cured IMMEDIATELY.
Nowadays, "Mike" Milken is no longer referred to by his full name (since we're not talking court proceedings, I guess), and he's working with others in the cancer world to demand faster access to new treatments. According to Fortune, he has "turned the cancer establishment upside-down."
That probably messed up some pretty important experiments over at The Cancer Establishment. Nobody likes an inverted Petrie dish.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm glad the guy didn't die of cancer, and it's great that he's making sure rich folks have access to lightning-fast, cutting-edge, yadda yadda treatment (while the rest of us, like someone very close to me, can't get new life-saving cancer drugs approved by our insurance companies).
It's also true that the past decade has been a remarkable period for cancer treatment. We've seen amazing advances in technology, an extraordinary increase in survival rates, and all this despite the Supreme Court's distaste for medical marijuana, even in the Age of Chemo.
However, even before Mr. Milken was handcuffed, other folks acted bravely to insure that the critically ill could get access to the best treatment available as soon as possible. Nonetheless, I doubt Act Up will ever make the cover of Fortune. Who wants to celebrate the accomplishments of an angry gay man and his gang of hellraising cronies (who, by the way, changed the way ordinary people think about medicine and helped gain greater access to treatment and information for ALL Americans) when they can celebrate an upstanding American like Mike Milken?
New treatments are great. Expanding the resources for researchers is fantastic.
Granting ALL people access to such a high level of treatment and information? Now THAT would mean turning the establishment upside-down.
Posted by erinjudge at December 17, 2004 04:43 PM
Comments
Ah, Milken: from man who ripped off thousands of innocent people to guy who survived getting cancer. Looks like not even divine retribution can stop the capitalist class these days!
Posted by: snjoseph ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.erinjudge.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at December 17, 2004 08:37 PM
Amen.
And in equally disheartening news, Time magazine, 4 years later, announces that the current Bush is, again...
drum roll please...
Man of the year! ...?
http://www.time.com/time/personoftheyear/2004/story.html
So, there are 2 folks who have risen to the public perview thanks to their...generosity?
Posted by: wayne at December 19, 2004 05:22 PM
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