This type of response

The front page of the Friday edition shows about $700,000 in government vehicles, and assuming two men per vehicle, 50 or so officers on the scene, composed of FBI, ICE and El Paso County Sheriff’s officers.

The cutline stated: “The officers closed Burgess Road near Black Forest after a confrontation with “two people” who tried to ram ICE officers.

These two men have to be the toughest two people in Colorado to require this response.

Also, in the picture, I wonder in what capacity the two blond ladies were performing; they do not appear to have protective body gear on?

This operation has to be right up there on par with flying a $2 billion B-21 bomber halfway around the world to bomb one building with unknown results.

Nathaniel J Gilmore III

Colorado Springs

Using off-label medications

I am writing to commend your editors for the excellent, factual piece that appeared in Monday’s Gazette titled “New ruling restores a woman’s right to choose”. I worked in Hematology/Oncology for two decades. It was not uncommon to use medications “off-label” for cancer treatments when clinical evidence support it or when the benefit outweighs the risk. An example was the use of bevacizumab, which was used off-label initially in the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer in combination with chemotherapy. Most people might not realize it, but some of the very popular GLP-1 drugs, approved for the treatment of diabetes, are being prescribed “off-label” for weight loss.

Progesterone has been used in medicine for decades, commonly in the treatment of infertility or reproductive health (for example in recurrent miscarriage). Progesterone has been prescribed in some cases of platelet disfunction (when platelets in your blood don’t function as they should resulting in easy bleeding), endometrial cancer, or even as an appetite stimulant in oncology related cachexia (off-label for appetite as there is a synthetic derivative that is FDA approved). Progesterone has a long track record of safety and efficacy.

It is so deceitful, when the very same people who push for hormone therapy at higher than usual doses to be used in gender transitioning, often in children, which is an off-label use and with limited research, especially in long term side effects in minors. It is abhorrent that legal cases were even brought, or that the medical/nursing boards were considering disciplinary action for those who prescribed the abortion pill rescue (progesterone). Thank you again, for laying out the facts so well.

Wendy J. Smith, ACNP-retired

Colorado Springs

Arrests of noncriminals

I was pleased to see that on Tuesday a front-page article in the Gazette “Who Is ICE Arresting?” was written and printed by the Washington Examiner and not by our smarter reporters. President Donald Trump’s opponents, primarily Democrats and immigrant rights advocates, want to see less focus and fewer arrests of noncriminals. The Trump administration is increasingly focused on immigrants here illegally regardless of their criminal background.

The truth is that all immigrants here illegally are criminals. They might not have a written record as such. But they have broken our laws and therefore they are criminals. The definition of a criminal is “One who has committed a crime”. Synonyms are “unlawful and illegal”. Anyone who has sneaked across our border without the proper papers is a criminal even though he or she might not have a history of criminal background. Many were part of gangs, others from countries with plans to damage or destroy our country and still others just to live off our tax money without working.

This liberal push to only permit arresting illegal immigrants who have a criminal record is ridiculous. When you say illegal immigrants, you are saying illegal immigrant criminals. They have broken our law. Suppose one of our citizens decides to hold up a jewelry store, and he has no history of a criminal record. He is caught but they must let him go because he has no former criminal record. That makes the same sense as catching an “illegal” immigrant, but you must let him or her go because they have no former criminal record.

Come on folks, think. Thinking that doesn’t equate illegal with criminal is evidence that our country has a ways to go educationally to lead the world.

Vern Swim

Colorado Springs

Trade barriers risk the vulnerable

Last year, I was fortunate to come across “Bottle of Lies” by Katherine Eban. The book documents how some generic drug manufacturers—particularly in India and China—stage FDA inspections and falsify data to gain approval, while shipping substandard medications to global markets.

One example, India’s Ranbaxy Laboratories, produced adulterated HIV and cholesterol drugs that contained incorrect dosages, impurities and even glass fragments. Though the company paid a $500 million fine, it simply changed names and continued supplying drugs.

Just this past June, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism revealed that generic cancer drugs failed quality testing in more than 100 countries.

Some contained too little of the active ingredient to be effective. Others caused dangerous overdoses.

Today, nearly 80% of the active ingredients in U.S. drugs originate from overseas — India and China being the primary sources.

While onshoring pharmaceutical production is a worthy long-term goal, we must first guarantee an adequate supply of safe, high-quality medicines. Until then, restricting access to trusted suppliers — especially those in countries with strong pharmaceutical oversight — risks harming the very people we’re trying to protect: our aging and medically vulnerable populations.

Nations with robust consumer protections should be embraced as trade partners, not penalized with tariffs.

John Irmen

Manitou Springs