Spartist conspiracist
From Mr David Loshak Sir: Even in your fun-filled Christmas issue, it's odd to find a parody of Dave Spart. John le Carre's rant against the internation- al drugs companies (`The biggest pushers of air, 16/23 December) is long on sweeping generalisation but lamentably, short of specifics. What, for instance, is the drug that in this country or the USA would be prescribed only for extreme cancer pain' but which is 'represented [by whom?] to Africans [where?] as a simple headache cure'? What 'fake nostrums' are taken (by whom?) as 'gospel'? What hacks have been holidayed' by drugs companies? Yes, some of these companies have been as unscrupulous at times as any capitalistic enterprise. But that's a long way from le Cage's vampiric worldwide conspiracy in which they have ruthlessly ensnared gov- ernments, the EU, academia, teaching hos- pitals, pharmacists, scientific researchers, countless doctors in country after country, and even hacks like me. Regrettably, how- ever, in the course of 25 years of writing, not (like le Carrel fiction but about health and medicine, sometimes paid for by drugs companies, I have yet to be 'holidayed' by any of them.
David Loshak dlosh@zoo.co,uk
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