Doc,

Listening to NPR yesterday (I know I shouldn’t, but I do anyway), I had the annoyance of hearing an old person complain about "important" issues to the elderly.

She criticized the pharmaceutical situation in the US, and went on to say that she and her friends had designs for something that was better than a mere supply and demand system. I have my own conceit: people are rarely able to better match supply with demand than the market. But she claimed to be able to do so, so I have to give her points for having brains (or at least thinking she did).

But then she described her second most important issue (and in the process, she discredited her approach to the first): trying to make sure that she and her ilk weren’t “preyed upon” by telemarketing scams.

Look, if you are smart enough to redesign the incredibly complex world of drug companies, insurance companies, pharmaceutical benefit managers, state aid, federal aid and company health plans, you should be able to understand this:

That Nigerian guy calling you really doesn't have links to huge amounts of money back in Nigeria! Wiring him $10,000 is a mistake! It doesn't matter if he has a nice voice!


- posted by total @ 5/08/2003 05:41:00 AM .