League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	San Francisco County, CA November 5, 2013 Election
	Proposition D Prescription Drug Purchasing City of San Francisco Majority Approval Required Pass: 72978 / 80.08% Yes votes ...... 18155 / 19.92% No votes See Also: Index of all Propositions

Arguments For Proposition D

Arguments Against Proposition D

PROP D HELPS LOWERS PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS FOR SAN FRANCISCO Prescription drug costs are skyrocketing, and San Francisco taxpayers are paying the price. The average cost for healthcare for a family of four is over $22,000 per year, and at-risk seniors continue to pay more for essential prescriptions than anyone else. Over $23 million of taxpayer money is spent on prescriptions for city-run medical programs in San Francisco. These drugs are for our neighbors who need it most + seniors, working families, women, HIV/AIDS patients and high-risk individuals throughout the city. Prop D will allow San Francisco to have more control over healthcare policy and drug prices. It won't cost San Francisco a dime, but the potential savings are huge. Drug prices are so expensive that even if we lower them by a fraction, taxpayers could save millions. Prop D is on the ballot this year because San Franciscans have had enough of high prescription drug prices, and it's time for our officials to act. Yes on D will give the city a mandate to take action, and find smart, innovative and flexible policies to bring down healthcare costs - especially for women, seniors and working families. San Francisco has a long history of taking on issues that have been ignored at the federal and state level, particularly on healthcare policy. When San Francisco acts, the country follows. Yes on D ensures that the issue of skyrocketing drug prices is addressed and will send a clear signal to drug manufacturers that San Francisco stands for fair drug pricing. San Francisco can lead the way. VOTE YES ON D! Board President David Chiu Supervisors Scott Wiener David Campos Eric Mar Malia Cohen Norman Yee Jane Kim Mark Farrell Katy Tang London Breed Rebuttal to Arguments For POORLY WORDED PROPOSITION D RAISES COMPLEX ETHICAL ISSUES + JUST HOW FAR SHOULD LIFESAVING MEDICAL RESEARCH BE SLOWED DOWN??? Lifesaving medical progress should be encouraged by all ethical methods. Unfortunately, many of the supporters of Proposition D seem to strongly object to corporations like Gilead Sciences getting involved in the development of new cutting edge health cures. Gilead Sciences is a stock corporation, whose shares are publicly traded daily. Gilead has a reputation for producing top quality medical results. That's important. Good research saves lives. It attracts further investment funds for more medical projects. We would be mistaken to cut back on Gilead's profits to much + especially since lots of the money will be spent on more research and development...saving more lives. Like Faust in Boito's Mephistopheles (currently being produced by the San Francisco Opera), we should say "NO!" to evil advice. DONATING TO RESEARCH BY NON-PROFIT MEDICAL FOUNDATIONS IS PRAISEWORTHY TOO: Here's a short list of the many donation-worthy non-profit medical research foundations (with phones): American Cancer Society (800-227-2345, 415-394-7100), American Institute for Cancer Research (800-843-8114), American Heart Association (800-242-8721), National Cancer Institute (800-422-6237), American Diabetes Association (800-342-2382), Arthritis Foundation (415-356-1230), and Breast Cancer Fund (415-246-8223). During the 1900 United State Census, the average American lived to age 46...more or less. A lot of progress has been made in the last 113 years. Vote "NO!" on Proposition D. Dr. Terence Faulkner, J.D. State of California Certified Farmers' Market Advisory Board Committeeman (1999-2005)* (Asterisks: For identification purposes only; author is signing as an individual and not on behalf of an organization.)

DON'T KILL THE GOLDEN GOOSE: About 2,000 years ago + around the time of Christ, the Roman Empire, and Han Dynasty China + the average person lived for about 30 years. A census under Augustus placed the diseased population of the Roman Empire at around 44,000,000. A similar Han Dynasty census produced a figure of about 48,000,000 for China. Hippocrates of Kos (circa 460-377 BCE or B.C.), called the Greek "Father of Medicine", gave case histories in his Epidemics III...but could do little else. With no penicillin (which only became available in the 1940's), many died from what we now consider minor infections. Life in the ancient world was hard and short. Drug and medical research gradually improved, the world's population expanding. In the present day United States, the average American can expect to live about 80 years. Some survive longer. Thanks to where and when she was born + and a little luck + my Aunt Catherine (Catherine Murphy) will have her 99th birthday on November 14, 2013. Sharply, attempting to cut back on the money paid to drug research companies is a very dangerous and mistaken crusade. There are big risks in drug research and development. If there were not firms like Gilead Sciences + willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on highly uncertain drug projects + many HIV patients and others with serious illnesses would be dead. Large losses regularly occur. On August 9, 2013, the stock of Dendreon suddenly fell over 26% in one day (from $4.59 to $3.39 per share). A cancer drug they were working on ran into problems. You or your relative might need one of those new drugs. Don't kill the golden goose. Vote "NO!" on Proposition D. Dr. Terence Faulkner, J.D. U.S. President's Federal Executive Awards Committeeman (1988)* (Asterisks: For identification purposes only; author is signing as an individual and not on behalf of an organization.) Rebuttal to Arguments Against This November, Prop D allows San Franciscans to speak out against the skyrocketing cost of prescription medications. Rising drug prices are one of the main reasons why health care is so expensive, and even with the new health care law more must be done to reign in costs. Drug manufacturers have the ability to set drug prices at any amount, no matter how high the cost - even for the essential medications that patients suffering with chronic illnesses need to take every day. Because of this, drug companies are making billions and are one of the most profitable industries in the world. And all San Franciscans pay for these costs through our tax dollars and higher insurance premiums. All San Franciscans should Vote Yes on D because we can't wait for solutions at the national and state level any longer. VOTE YES ON D! Board President David Chiu Supervisors Scott Wiener David Campos Eric Mar Malia Cohen Norman Yee Jane Kim Mark Farrell Katy Tang London Breed