Letters to the editor for Monday, Sept. 10

LAWYERS' INQUIRIES

Marketplace at work

A Sept. 4 letter writer wrote of 18 inquiries from as many law firms soliciting his son's DWI representation. On Sept. 2, Katherine Kersten wrote of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center's phone "ringing off the wall" after the I-35W bridge collapse, a Somali woman and her unborn child apparently victims.

Presumably the letters and calls complied with the detailed strictures of the Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct governing such lawyer solicitation. And there is little difference from corporate-practice law firms patrolling federal courts' filing offices to fish out from the docket lists of just-sued corporate defendants.

These are the practices of the marketplace, the exercise of the right to speak and write. And the recipient can always say no. More than that, there is a reasonable chance that someone hiring such a solicitor is getting a lawyer adept at the subject matter.

The only surprise is that lawyers persist in the notion that theirs is a "profession," above the groveling, the pushing and shoving of those engaged in everyday commerce.

MICHAEL BERENS, STILLWATER

RETIRED ATTORNEY

health care

What about results?

The Sept. 4 front-page article on MRI-guided brain surgery represents a continuation of misleading publicity given to technological advances in medical care. The gadgetry is impressive and expensive; the hospital gains in public relations; the physicians revel in the new technology. Everything is wonderful -- except the basic question is ignored: namely, are the results any better?

The lay public is convinced that more sophisticated and expensive health care is better. Unfortunately, although we spend more, significant improvements in health and longevity are hard to demonstrate.

This new machine will be used predominantly to treat brain cancer. But where is the evidence that more patients with brain tumors will survive? It does not exist. Although physicians, government and the media hype "progress" in cancer therapy, the outcomes are barely improved, but at tremendous expense.

Until the profession and the public realize that more care is not necessarily better care, health care cost inflation will continue its frightening and escalating increase.

SEYMOUR HANDLER, M.D., EDINA

Keep insuring kids

Surely it comes as no surprise that backers of SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program) funding would like to expand government health insurance programs, giving Americans what citizens of every other Western industrialized nation have ("Backers of health plan for kids have other motives," Sept. 4). And it should not be surprising that the Heritage Foundation opposes any government-funded social program.

SCHIP is essentially a grant to states to provide, in the best way they see fit, health insurance for children who lack it. No one is forced out of employer-provided or private plans. In Minnesota, families pay a premium; coverage is not free.

While not ideal, SCHIP is a step in the right direction. Our patchwork system for health care insurance is a wreck. It penalizes employers who offer it, distorts employment creation, leaves people with medical conditions uninsured, and charges exorbitant premiums.

"Government monopoly over health care"? No, government-guaranteed insurance for all. What a concept!

MARY K. LUND, MINNETONKA

organic farming

Look at its yields

Unfortunately, Dennis Avery has not kept up with the recent scientific literature on organic farming, as evidenced in Sept. 6 column, "The consequences of organic farming." A recent, widely publicized University of Michigan study shows that organic farming can yield up to three times as much food on individual farms in developing countries as low-intensive methods on the same land.

Furthermore, organic farming can build up soil organic matter better than conventional no-till farming can, according to a long-term study by the U.S. Agricultural Research Service.

GREG PRATT, MINNEAPOLIS

Follow the funding

In regard to your Opinion Exchange piece by David Avery denigrating organic farming for not using pesticides and herbicides, which would somehow mitigate erosion, five minutes of research reveals that the Hudson Institute, of which he is a member, is funded by Monsanto, Dow, Conagra and a host of other chemical peddlers and agribusiness giants.

PAUL SMITH, CIRCLE PINES

mother teresa

Major point missed

James Martin failed to make an obvious and profound point in his revelation of Mother Teresa's crisis of faith (Opinion Exchange, Sept. 3). Many truly good people care deeply about others and the world, perform selfless acts, and open their hearts to those less fortunate, all without benefit of religious belief. Faith is not a prerequisite for pure love and sacrifice, any more than a belief in God ensures a life well-lived.

MARTA FAHRENZ, MINNEAPOLIS