Some days you read things and you can't quite believe what is being reported. Today is such a day.
This is an unbelievable story.
We'd have many more miraculous cancer breakthroughs if as a nation, we devoted the necessary financial resources to cancer research.
But we don't.
Our government has systematically cut the financial lifeline.
Cancer researchers and advocacy groups have begun a "last-minute lobbying push" in Congress to prevent the passage of a proposed $40 million spending reduction for cancer research, "the deepest cut in federal research funding in a generation," the Baltimore Sun reports (Rockoff, Baltimore Sun, 3/30). In his FY 2007 budget plan, President Bush proposed to reduce spending for the National Cancer Institute by 0.8%, or $39.4 million, to $4.75 billion (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 2/7).
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/...
You can't give the the top 1% tax cuts, fight a trillion dollar war and also adequately fund cancer research.
So what happens?
Doctors, scientists, researchers, patients go around, hat-in-hand and beg and plead for money. They are engaged in a continual struggle to raise money for research and patient care.
They often turn to marquee Hollywood stars to assist them in raising desperately needed funds.
Last night in New York, a small cancer charity got a big taste of the smarmy underside of the entertainment business.
The New York Daily News is reporting that Grammy Award winning singer Alicia Keys refused to honor a committment to perform because the charity was unable to pay her the full fee.
R&B songstress Alicia Keys hit a sour note in New York last night - backing out of a charity ball even after a New Jersey couple took out a second mortgage on their home just to secure her performance.
http://www.nydailynews.com/...
Only in America. Right?
You take out a second mortgage in order to raise some additional money to pay Ms. Keys. But apparently, it still wasn't enough.
The controversy began shortly after a key sponsor pulled out of last night's gala, which benefits the Cancer & Fertility Society, a new group dedicated to educating women with cancer about how to preserve their fertility.
The charity was left with only limited funds to pay Keys.
Desperate organizers tried to renegotiate with Keys' camp, which suggested she might make a scaled-down appearance if the charity delivered a deposit that one source put at "more than $100,000."
Ms. Keys--or her representatives, weren't satisfied.
Jonathan Brielle and his wife agreed to take out a second mortgage on his Califon, N.J., home to pay the deposit. But after the deposit was delivered, Keys canceled her appearance anyway, charity sources said.
Keys almost kept the money, charity officials said - until reporters began asking her aides about the dustup.
So the fledgling Cancer and Fertility Society was unable to raise enough money to pay her entire fee.
Representatives of Keys put out a statement last night saying all the money would be returned, and that Keys would perform for the group at a later date "if the organization fulfills all of its contractual obligations."
But Keys' camp also blasted the group for not keeping up its end of the bargain, from failing to deliver Keys' agreed-upon fee to not selling out last night's event.
Let's take a look at the good work done by The Cancer and Fertility Society. Seems like they're really trying to help people have children.
Cancer is a deadly disease that affects individuals, families, and communities. Today more and more women are being diagnosed with reproductive organ-related cancers at a younger age. Unfortunately for many of these women, this means that they not only have to come to terms with battling a deadly disease, but their reproductive ability may be at risk or destroyed due to radiation, chemotherapy, and other cancer treatments. For these reasons, preservation of fertility is becoming an immensely important area in cancer research.
It's also why we founded the Cancer and Fertility Society. Since its inception in 2002, the Society's mission has been to improve the lives of patients with cancer or other conditions that inhibit their ability to conceive, by increasing their chances of fertility, improving treatment methods, and educating cancer experts.
http://www.cancerandfertilitysociety.org/
Now connect the dots.
The family values crowd cuts cancer funding. Organizations like the Cancer and Fertility Society must raise money to help people have families. They do the time honored thing and turn to Hollywood. They fail to raise an adequate amount of money to feed the beast--in this case Alicia Keys--the beast fails to deliver, perform, show-up. Nothing. Squat.
As I said, only in America. Maybe not. But truly sad.