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Monday, February 10,2003
Oregon Daily Emerald
Commentary
Editor in Chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing Editor
Jessica Richelderfer
Editorial Editor
Pat Payne
Editorial
FDA holds
answers
to Pfizer’s
problem
It is a rare instance in which the
people of one nation get to see the
judiciary of another in action up
close. That happened here on the
University campus Friday, as the
Navajo Supreme Court heard argu
ments in the case of Nelson v. Pfiz
er, a lawsuit stemming from the
failure of Pfizer’s Rezulin anti-dia
betes drug in some patients.
The suit came about after 16
Navajo tribe members came for
ward, claiming liver damage and
other injuries resulted from the
use of Rezulin.
We do not buy the argument of
Pfizer that it is somehow immune
to the Navajo Court’s jurisdiction.
Pfizer said it had “no relationship”
with the Navajo, but this is absurd.
The company was selling its prodr
uct on Navajo land. According to
the plaintiffs, there were direct
marketing attempts on Navajo
reservations to sell the medication.
This lawsuit is no different than
if a German or Kenyan or Japanese
citizen were to sue Pfizer. This ar
gument almost smacks to us of a
“We’re an American company, we
don’t recognize this court” argu
ment. Wrong.
There is a bigger issue at play
here, however. While we sympa
thize with the need to quickly
bring out medicines that can save
lives, there has to be a process in
which these medicines are tested
so they pose the least risk to hu
man life possible, rather than be
ing rubber-stamped out to suit the
drug companies.
According to an article pub
lished last year in the Journal of
the American Medical Association,
a full 20 percent of prescription
medicines may pose an unaccept
able risk to patients. Many of these
medicines don’t receive a thor
ough-enough testing regimen, and
the Food and Drug Administration
sometimes relies on the compa
nies’ own data, which can be bi
ased in favor of approval.
Of the 1.9 million who have tak
en Rezulin, there have been 66
certified instances of liver failure
resulting in death. Some re
searchers say the number of all in
stances of damage could reach as
high as 2,000.
Similarly, drugs such as Baycol
and phen-fen, touted as medici
nal panaceas, have seriously
jeopardized patients’ bodies after
approval, their risks swept under
the rug.
This is intolerable. Perhaps
more lawsuits, such as the Navajo
case against Pfizer, will force drug
companies into some sort of re
sponsibility. But we doubt it. It is
time that the FDA take action, test
drugs thoroughly and force drug
manufacturers, under pain of per
manent rejection of a drug, to pres
ent every shred of test data on a
drug up for approval.
Flexing Moxim-um muscle
When Maxim readers got its
February issue in the mail, most
were expecting the softcore fare
that has become the modem “gen
tlemen” magazine’s hallmark. The
cover was titillating enough: “Biki
ni Blitz!” Pages of mostly topless
women modeled bathing suits for
readers’ masturbating pleasure.
The preoccupation with the fe
male body is what Maxim knows
best. And any magazine that has
the, er, balls to publish articles
about “tornado” oral sex and the
lot should be commended. With
the clinical sex education chil
dren get in elementary school,
grown adults need magazines
such as Maxim and Cosmopolitan
to give them more insight as to
needs in the sack.
But a much more ugly picture
overshad
owed the
normal com
bination of
sex-ed arti
cles and un
derdressed
models in
the February
edition. In a
three-page
spread, Max- Lauderbaugh
im used Judge Julie
video game
like illustra
tions to portray how hand-to-hand
combat can be good exercise.
In “Maxim’s Kick-Ass Workout,”
an illustration of a white man,
wearing a wife-beater shirt embla
zoned with “Muscle,” was shown
kicking and tossing about a bludg
eoned and extremely emaciated
likeness of Mahatma Gandhi.
Among other violent exercises,
Maxim advocated strangling to
“strengthen your man-titties and
your ego.” In one panel, Gandhi is
depicted lying on the floor with the
“muscle” man standing over him.
The text reads, “... quickly ask
Gandhi if he can see the change in
your physique. No response? Keep
working out.”
Another gem was this: “A way to
exercise tl^p leg muscles is to focus
on his head and use it as your per
sonal trampoline. Mauling the
guy’s face is a full butt and thigh
workout.” Gandhi is shown lying
on the floor with blood spurting
out of his head while the other
HOW ABOUT YOU PUT THOSE
MUSCLES TO SOME GOOD USE.
LIKE FREEING A SUB-CONTINENT
OR SOMETHING.
*-VT5CV
Peter Utsey Emerald
character stomps on his skull.
Understandably, the South
Asian community didn't take this
caricature lightly. IndiaCause, a
U.S.-based activist group created
the most noise and even swayed
Maxim’s editor-in-chief, Keith
Blanchard, to issue a formal apol
ogy last week.
“We apologize if our cartoon ...
was interpreted as offensive,”
Blanchard said. “An edgy sense of
humor, laced with irony, has al
ways been a central element of
Maxim’s editorial.”
To its credit, Maxim’s sopho
moric sense of humor extends to
everyone, not just Gandhi. In the
same article, readers were en
couraged to “drop a rock on a fat,
Speedo-Sportin’ Euro.” And the
magazine also has a regular fea
ture with a Japanese character
named “Hiroki” who speaks in
broken English: “Picture look
good. Shell too crunchy — metal
hurt my teeth! ”
Maxim’s content isn’t as offen
sive as it is just plain stupid. But in
an age of politically correct
Nazism, Maxim’s attempts to push
the envelope are almost refreshing.
Italian Americans have com
plained about their depiction on
“The Sopranos”; Mexican Ameri
cans are upset about “Kingpin”;
and hey, I’m being underrepresent
ed on BET!
But with continued violence
against Middle Eastern-“looking”
men after Sept. 11, 2001, Maxim
is doing a disservice to all Ameri
cans with its all-too-literal Gand
hi-bashing article — especially
for the laughably ego-centric pur
pose of tight abs and buns of
steel. Now young, horny, hetero
sexual readers are not just being
taught how to find the G-spot, but
they’re also being told violence
against peace-loving religious
icons will make them manlier.
If the magazine was as “edgy” as
Blanchard says it is, why did it
choose Gandhi for the story? Why
not pick high profile pacifists such
as Martin Luther King Jr. or Jesus
Christ to play the “pussy”?
Until Jesus gets body-slammed
by the Pope in the next issue, read
ers should chalk up the incident to
immature ignorance on behalf of
the editors and move on. Mean
while, Maxim should go back to
featuring what it does best: naked
women and cunnilingus lessons.
Contact the columnist at
julielauderbaugh@dailyemerald.com.
Her views do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
CORRECTIONS
In the article about the
Unity Celebration
(“Bringing history
forward,’’ ODE, Jan. 28),
two quotes were
attributed to the
opposite speakers. Alex
Gonzales should have
been credited for the
quote beginning, “People
have to sit down and just
talk,” and Khanh Le
should have been
credited with quoting
from Martin Luther King
Jr.'s “Letter from
Birmingham jail."
In the Nov. 21 article
about the Campus Day
of Solidarity (“Adding
their voices," ODE),
student Bill Hamann was
not speaking on behalf
of the Oregon National
Guard. He should have
been identified as
representing Students
for Peace, and his quote
should have read that he
refuses “to shed innocent
blood. Not for politics,
not for oil, not for
anything."
The Emerald regrets
terrors.
Online poll
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or 8 votes
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or 6 votes
This week: What’s the best way
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Choices: Bring your date home