Are we as a "fast-food nation" sacrificing our health through "no-frills menus" at in-store health clinics?

The Oct. 21 article "Express Care," reported that in-store health clinics continue to grow in popularity, but a 2007 Harris poll cited found that two-thirds of respondents were concerned about staff qualifications and the ability to diagnose serious medical problems at in-store health clinics. I am concerned for those very same reasons.

At an in-store health clinic, an individual is diagnosed and treated by a nurse practitioner for what the 2008 Rand Study defined as "10 easy to treat needs that account for 93 percent of clinic patients." I do not question the ability of well-qualified nurse practitioners to treat patients, but what I do question is their lack of supervision by a physician at in-store clinics.

With greater access to a physician, the nurse practitioner in a doctor's office has the ability to consult with the physician should a condition be anything other than one of the "10 easy to treat needs."

MEGAN A. McGOVERN
Highland Park

The writer is a student in the health law program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

In response to the article "Express Care" (Oct. 21), in-store health clinics provide for a great need. People who may not have a primary-care physician or do not have health insurance now have a place to receive appropriate care.

Providing accessible medical care will likely increase the likelihood that individuals seek care early, before a condition unnecessarily reaches the point of catastrophe. Also, encouraging patients to avoid going to the emergency room, except in cases of true emergencies, will help the economic system of our country as a whole.

JILLIAN WEIN
Lawrenceville

The writer is a student in the health law program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Comcast Cable has announced a pending increase in cable fees due to various cost increases including higher fuel costs. We have all felt the effects of the high gasoline prices, but we have not gone to our employers and asked for a raise. We have all tightened our belts, adjusted our budgets and made do with what we have.

How can Comcast state that it needs a rate increase one week due to higher costs and then the following week release figures that show that its corporate profits rose 38 percent in the third quarter of this year?

I guess the higher costs it cites as the basis for the new rate increase kept it from achieving a 50 percent increase in third-quarter profits.

Yes, "CORPORATE GREED" in capital letters is what we are again seeing.

RON BENEDEK
Oakdale