[OEM] Bayer and Sundry
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[OEM] Bayer and
Sundry
Date:
Tue, 14 Jan 2003 08:19:06 -0500
From:
Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide
Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
I would like to offer my voice to support Dr. Egilman for his reminding us that the lessons of history are too soon forgotten and too often neglected, and to Jim Brophy for his enlightened perspective on the relevance of this discussion to occupational medicine.
My mother is a Holocaust survivor and has left me with a legacy of social awareness and responsibility. This is in lieu of surviving relatives. The history of that period was woven by the hand of people who demonized, dehumanized and destroyed. Also culpable were a citizenry indifferent to the suffering of others, and some in industry who saw opportunity in the mechanics of annihilation.
Arrogant self interest, social apathy and greed have always been essential ingredients for disastrous outcomes. The continuum described by Jim should alert all of us to lessons not yet learned. The recent series in the New York Times, Death on the Job, Slap on the Wrists, is a recent and shocking example. A cataclysm should not herald our next learning experience. We are smarter, and should be more responsible, than that.
While there is much that is subject to debate or interpretation, respect for the rights, health and dignity of people must not be negotiable. There are some matters in which clarity is not an illusion.
The opinions expressed are representative of my role as a health care practitioner in occupational medicine and as President of the Rhode Island Holocaust Memorial Museum. Thank you, Dr. Egilman, for being a provocateur and inspiring these thoughts.
Wayne P. Estes, PA-C
westes@ohplus.com
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