Opioid epidemic limit is bad Rx

Forest Hills: It has been said that the anteroom of hell is paved with goodwill. The Daily News reported on Friday that CVS pharmacy will limit the dispensing of opioid prescriptions to a seven-day supply. Very nice, the addicts will go from pharmacy to pharmacy. On the other hand (and I am glad I am not a customer of CVS but of another chain), I am an 85-year-old male with inoperable, multiple problems of my spine. I am under the care of a pain management specialist physician, and under my Medicare Part D I get at a time 15 fentanyl transdermal patches, which for me is a sixweek supply. These patches mitigate my pain to a level of 8 on the scale of 0 to 10 where 0 is no pain and 10 is a pain level where the only thing that helps is committing suicide.

A seven-day supply of any medication means that those of us who need it must visit the doctor on a weekly basis. This costs the insurance companies an unnecessary expense — and in my case (and that of numerous others) makes Medicare and my “Gap Insurer” (AARP/UnitedHealthcare) spend unnecessary monies.

A good way to bankrupt Medicare Part B, since fentanyl and opioids may not be prescribed with refills, the patient must visit the doctor.

It seems that in order to try blocking the misuse of medications, CVS did not think through all the unintended consequences of their decision. Can we have some sanity and not penalize those who do need the painkillers, not make doctors spend time writing prescriptions on a weekly basis, and not make Medicare and insurance companies spend money reimbursing physicians for needless visits? John H. Szalkay

Twice hero was twice before

Merrick, L.I.: I want to just correct an article that was in your paper on Sept. 21 regarding the Hero of the Month award, “Twice as great.” You stated that Capt. Ray Jenkins was the first to receive the award twice, however, he is actually the third. The first was Patrolman Thomas Gargan, my father, for his actions in 1945, and then for his line-of-duty death on Aug. 17, 1947. The second recipient was ESU member PO Ragusa who held the hand of a lady who was trapped under a crane. I am not taking anything away from the heroics of Capt. Jenkins, I am just informing you of your unintentional oversight with this award.

William Gargan

Zeros ahead of heroes

Princeton Junction, N.J.: In your Sept. 21 edition you put the story about lame lothario Kevin Hart’s spoiled celebrity scandal of shameful infidelity on page 10, but Hero of the Month (twice!) cop Ray Jenkins on page 16? You highlighted bad behavior before honorable, salt-of-the-earth, praiseworthy police behavior? Shame on you, Daily News. Rethink your priorities, pronto.

Suzanne S. Jacob

Let’s repair our elections

Staten Island: This last presidential election made it clear to me that there are two major flaws in our political system: one is that there are very few requirements for one of the most important and demanding jobs, and the other is that the Electoral College is the only basis for electing a President, ignoring the popular vote no matter how many more votes one candidate gets over another. I’ve heard it said that it has always been that way. Well, the same lame excuse has been given for continuing slavery, discrimination against women and minority groups, and many other injustices. Let’s have the courage to make changes where changes are due!

Laura Simmons

Jew-hating exposed

Margate, Fla.: Valerie Plame was smart enough to work for the CIA, but wants us to believe she posts anti-Semitic drivel on Twitter without reading it. Once an anti-Semite, always an antiSemite. Richard Sherman

School lesson

Bronx: Schoolteacher Robin Bacigalupo’s Sept. 7 Op-Ed “Charlottesville and New York’s schools” makes the statement that as New Yorkers we generally support bringing down Confederate statues. She does not speak for this New Yorker. What is worse, she lumps this together with “forcefully condemn(ing) the views of white nationalists,” which most rational people would agree on. They are not the same thing. By the way, she is a literacy specialist and used “lays” where she should have used “lies.”

Anita Mulé

Making her sick

Ozone Park: Trumpcare will cost me more and cover less. How can the Senate vote to do that to constituents? The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is important to me because more people have insurance with it. Trumpcare is a giveaway to corporate insurance companies who can now return to the days of charging us outrageous amounts for junk policies that aren’t there for us when we need it. Trumpcare allows insurers to go back to the days of discriminating against patients with preexisting conditions. That’s appalling. If the Senate votes for it, constituents like me won’t forget. Trumpcare not only ends policies for so many of those on Medicaid, it bans those who keep it from using their insurance to be treated at Planned Parenthood — the only provider in many areas.

Erin Yarrobino

Political medicine

Great Neck, L.I.: Kudos to Jimmy Kimmel for calling out Sens. Bill (Butch) Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Lindsey Graham, on the flaws of their health care bill. I was stunned to see Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley actually state there were at least 10 good reasons why he should not vote for their proposal but, in the end, he would vote yes because “politically, it was the right thing to do”.

Eliot Gonshorek

Pot is the last option

Kew Gardens: I agree with Sen. Al D’Amato on the use of medical marijuana (“My epiphany on medical marijuana,” Op-Ed, Sept. 22). His evolved view is correct, but only for those who suffer from pain not treatable in other ways. Otherwise, we will have the California experience of every Tom, Dick and Harry finding a malady to get high legally. Marijuana is still a pathway for some into other drugs. And the argument that it is less harmful than alcohol is bunk. Even if it’s half as bad, why do we need two mind-altering substances? Marijuana is an excuse to avoid the realities of everyday life. It is for people who cannot cope. Phil Serpico Manhattan: Re “The surprising cities with the highest and lowest rates of exercise” (Sept. 20): The subway is my StairMaster. Waiting for the train and pacing the steamy station while vigorously fanning myself is both cardio and arm exercise. I will walk anywhere below 23rd St., and I know I am not alone here. Did anyone use those statistics in that study? My friends in Boulder drive home directly after eating dinner at a restaurant while I walk home.

Judith Drasner

Street spotter

Manhattan: Why doesn’t New York City use the same CompStat (computer statistics) for street cleaning like they use for crime? The “slime rate” is very high and getting higher. Richard E. Stone

Risky game

Manhattan: While the NFL certainly bears some responsibility for the brain injuries inflicted on football players during games or practice sessions, what about the responsibility of the players and their parents? They should also bear some responsibility for KEN MURRAY/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS knowingly participating, or allowing their sons to participate, in an obviously dangerous sport where repeated head bashing is a common occurrence as part of playing the game. Instead, they claim ignorance, relying on assurances from the NFL that it is a safe sport. Were it not for the astronomical salaries of these athletes, would anyone in their right mind blindly believe that?

Chana Schwartz

North Korea, aggressor

Brooklyn: To Voicer Courtney Anne-McRitchie: Your claim that North Korea’s demand that the U.S. pull its troop contingent out of South Korea is a reasonable one would simply allow Little Kim to march right across the DMZ into Seoul, unopposed. And when you say the North “should not be depicted as a warmongering country,” what would you call their firing of missiles over Japanese air space, testing hydrogen bombs, and threatening to blow Guam out of the Pacific Ocean and incinerate U.S. cities — exercises in pacifism? Steven I. Danko

Not funny

Brooklyn: To Voicer Bill Gillingham: The writer of “Between the Lines” is a world-class jerk. On the first day of a “Star Wars” movie, he prints a spoiler showing Han Solo dies. What kind of a creep does this? His strip is worthless, as many people have expressed. Please, Daily News, replace it with something funny as most of your readers have asked.

Greg Ahl