Letters to the editor: Nov. 21, 2015
Who would provide for Syrian refugees?
Will we be getting Syrian refugees in York County? Where will they be placed? Who will take care of them and for how long? The majority of the people in the state don’t really want them in their county.
Why? Because there is no way to know whether or not they have criminal records, are jihadists, or are just plain crazy people. The screening process is very suspect. A majority of them don’t speak English and are uneducated with little or no skills.
Despite sharing a common language and religion, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the UAE have all refused to accept Syrian refugees. Why? Do these countries know something that we don’t?
The economic realities are that they will receive grants from the U.S. government sponsored organizations for nine months and immediately qualify for all government benefits, e.g., welfare, subsidized housing, food stamps, etc., upon their arrival. Can you train someone to be productive in our society in nine months?
After that, who will provide for them? The money will have to come from our state and local taxes. In York County, we have passed three school bonds and one countywide bond referendum in the past year. We also have roads that are crumbling. Do we want to put more financial stress on our taxpayers to support this?
Call or write to your County Council member, state representatives and senators, and our U.S. congressman and senators and tell them you don’t want them in our state or county.
Swain W. Sheppard
Rock Hill
New feeding tube puts users at risk
This is a heads up for approximately 1,160 individuals fed by a feeding tube, living independently in their homes in York and Mecklenburg counties, about 50 percent of whom blend their own foods. There are approximately 500,000 people who tube feed in the United States.
I am a feeding tube user, but like all others may be stuck with the ENFit connector system being developed to replace all current feeding tube connectors. A medical device manufacturers association, GEDSA, is pushing hard for the ENFit single-choice option for all tube feeders, and the FDA has decided ENFit does not require clearance.
ENFit features a small inner diameter, which will result in longer feeding times, clogging, frequent replacement, and make home-blenderized feeding virtually impossible, forcing all users onto commercial formula nutrition instead of homemade food. The ENFit outside diameter is also so small that two agile hands will be required to make the connections.
These problems may rob users of their independence, requiring meal assistance or relocation to a facility. Feeding tube users with a trach tube are at huge risk because the formula connection can wrongly fit snugly into a trach tube. The ENFit syringe has an increased likelihood of overdosing of medications in infants.
I am not aware of any user advantages of ENFit. I am aware of many more disadvantages than even mentioned above.
Feeding tube users need to be aware of the great difficulties that ENFit may soon create in their lives. Educate yourself and write to the FDA. They can stop it.
David Rowland
Fort Mill
This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Letters to the editor: Nov. 21, 2015."