Top Stories: Nov. 2, 2009

Public Transit Woes; Eshoo Defends Biotech; Nunez Fired

By Staff (Nov 02, 2009 )

Is the VTA Facing Even More Cuts?
Bus fares could rise and service could be reduced now that the VTA has announced new deficit figures totaling $98 million. On Aug. 10, SanJose.com reported that VTA officials decided to advance a fare hike from January 2010 to October 2009 in order to raise $1 million in revenue and offset possible service reductions. The excuse given for the hike was an anticipated budget shortfall of $36 million budget.

But that was based on anticipated revenue from sales taxes, which help to fund the VTA's operations. This was 21 percent lower than expected in Q3, and is expected to be 27 percent lower in the final quarter of the year.

The Board of the VTA will be meeting this week to decide what measures to take. They do not have many options left. A proposed fare hike went into effect just a month ago, along with unpaid furlough days for all employees. Service cuts for buses and light rail are already scheduled for January.

One possibility being suggested is to divert additional operating funds from Measure A. Though this act was originally passed in an effort to expand local bus service, because of the drop in sales tax revenues, funds amounting to some $30 million are now being used just to keep some lines running. On the other hand, many people have complained that the VTA is already taking the public "for a ride" with its misuse of Measure A funding.

In 2003-2004, a Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury found that the VTA's "Board is too large, too transient, and too occupied with other duties to provide direction and effective oversight to the staff in running VTA," and that the VTA Board "has proceeded with a transit capital improvement plan that cannot accomplish all that was promised in Measure A."

As the debate heats up, one thing is certain. Riders will be the first to suffer from it.
Read More at VTA Watch.
Read More at the Business Journal.


Med Students Challenge Representative Anna Eshoo
A group of local medical students visited Representative Anna Eshoo's (D) office in Palo Alto to challenge the Congresswoman's support for pro-PhRMA legislation which, they claimed, would unnecessarily extend the period that generic biologics are kept off the market. The students, representing AMSA (the American Medical Student Association), told one of Eshoo's representatives that the steep costs of biologics can potentially bankrupt countless people whose lives depend on the drugs.

Biologics include a wide range of drugs made by biological, rather than chemical, processes. They are sometimes regulated differently from chemically-manufactured drugs. Biologic drugs include Herceptin, which is used in treating breast cancer, and Humira, which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease. Herceptin costs an average of $37,000 per patient per year, while the cost for Humira can run up to $50,000 per patient per year. Avastin, another biologic used to treat cancer, can cost as much as $100,000.

Speaking of Herceptin, Connie Chen, one of the protest's organizers, explained: "For those patients whose breast cancer is responsive to this drug, for the first time we have what appears to be a virtual cure for breast cancer for those whose breast cancer is responsive to this therapy."

The protesters said that Eshoo and Senator Kay Hagan (D-North Carolina) are demanding "data exclusivity" to allow the drug companies to fund "innovations" in the development of these drugs. This, they said, is the equivalent of issuing a limitless patent on the development process, since all they have to do is to tweak the process in some minor way to have their patent extended. The current patent for these drugs is for twelve years.

The protesters also claimed that Big PhRMA contributed 20 percent of Eshoo's total campaign contributions ($84,000), while the Healthcare Professionals PAC contributed another 10 percent ($42,000) to Eshoo. Med Student Sha Ali pointed out that the government has already contributed significantly to these drugs' development with taxpayer dollars.

In an article in the Huffington Post, Eshoo defended her position, saying that "Biotechnology products cost billions of dollars to develop, test and bring to market, and in order to ensure that competitors aren't immediately allowed to free-ride on the costly safety and efficacy data produced by innovators, some period of 'data exclusivity' is necessary to allow some period of time to recoup the investment in developing the drug."

She adds that the legislation, which she drafted with the late Senator Ted Kennedy, would actually "bring down the costs of today's biologics by bringing them into an era of biosimilars," which would be approved more quickly.
Read More at FireDogLake.


Bob Nuñez Fired by School District
The Board of Trustees of the East Side Union High School District has fired beleaguered Superintendent Bob Nuñez. On July 30, SanJose.com reported that Nuñez was put on paid administrative leave for allegedly having abused district credit cards for restaurant meals and travel, and for having paid contractors repeatedly for doing the same job. The investigation against Nunez also included suspicions that he overcharged for his number of workdays, and that he took over $24,000 in 2006 and over $27,000 in 2007 for unused vacation time. Nuñez was famous for his suggestion that school athletics be eliminated to save money.

Board President Patricia Martinez-Roach said that the panel that investigated Nuñez does not believe he acted maliciously in order to harm the district, and that the firing was intended to refocus attention on the serious issues affecting the school district. As such, Nuñez will receive $225,000—one year's salary—in severance pay. He has agreed to donate half of that sum back to the school district.
Read More at KLIV.


Bar Brawl Leads to City's 23rd Homicide
The SJPD believe that a bitter argument at Club Rodeo, a country and western dance club near Highway 87, led to a highway shooting shortly after 1am on Saturday morning. A woman who was killed at the scene is the city's 23rd homicide victim this year.

People at the club say they saw a verbal dispute involving four people shortly before the shooting took place. One of the groups involved in the squabble left the club and drove away, southbound on Highway 87. As they approached Highway 280, a second car pulled up to them and began shooting. The woman died on the scene, but none of the other people in the car was injured. Police are currently investigating the homicide.
Read More at NBC Bay Area.