Bowie State Places Three on CIAA Commissioner's All-Academic Team

HAMPTON, Va. - The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association is pleased to recognize twenty student-athletes from its member institutions as the 2013 CIAA Commissioner's All-Academic Team. The group is comprised of student-athletes who have completed at least one academic year at a member intuition, made significant contributions to their respective sport and have achieved a grade-point-average of 3.2 or better.

“Athletics in the CIAA provides a unique opportunity for student-athletes to compete and receive a quality education. It is important to understand that there is a balance that is expected from DII student-athletes, i.e., to graduate while cultivating a variety of skills to prepare for life time experiences and opportunities,” said CIAA Commissioner Jacqie Carpenter.

The CIAA Female and Male Scholar-Athletes of the Year are Winston-Salem State's Ebone Evans and Khendra Reid.

Evans, a participant in WSSU's women's track & field program, garnered a 3.96 grade-point-average majoring in Biology. The junior hurdler from Durham, NC was a standout on the track for the Lady Rams and a model citizen off the track. She donated countless hours to local elementary schools for tutoring, science fairs and youth programming. The WSSU 2012 & 2013 Female Student-Athlete of the Year recipient has also received several other academic awards since her freshman year.

Reid, a Ram football defensive standout, earned male Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors with a 3.66 grade-point-average as a Computer Science major. A linebacker for the Division II National Runner-up, Reid was named Second Team All-CIAA earlier this academic year. The Pikeville, NC native has been a Chancellor's Full Scholarship Recipient from 2010-13 and a member of the CIAA All-Academic Team since 2010. He has been a staple in the area of church and elementary school community service.

“The CIAA All-Academic team represents student-athletes who demonstrate a commitment to achievement not only in athletics but academic excellence in the classroom,” Carpenter added. “It is an honor to recognize such a prestigious group of student-athletes in the CIAA who will serve as future leaders in their communities.”

The Scholar-Athletes of the Year are nominated by their respective institutions and voted upon by the CIAA Executive Committee. The All-Academic Team is voted upon by the CIAA Sports Information Directors Association.

FIRST TEAM

Name	School	Sport	Hometown	Class	GPA	Major
Ebone Evans*	WSSU	Women's Track and Field	Durham, NC	Jr.	3.9	Biology
Khendra Reid*	WSSU	Football	Pikeville, NC	Jr.	3.6	Computer Science
Cassandra Clayborne	BSU	Softball	Damascus, MD	So.	4.0	Biology
Danielle Williams	JCSU	Women's Track and Field	St. Andrew, Jamaica	Jr.	3.8	Business Management
Pedro Aiala	CU	Men's Tennis	Governador Valadares, Brazil	Jr.	3.8	Business Administration
Nathnaiel Hartung	WSSU	Football	Butler, PA	Jr.	3.9	History
Akino Ming	JCSU	Men's Track and Field	St. Thomas, Jamaica	Sr.	3.8	Communications
Mason Simpson	VUU	Golf	Richmond, VA	Sr.	3.6	Accounting
Byron Westmoreland	BSU	Men's Basketball	Baltimore, MD	Sr.	3.2	Communications
Kassandra Bishop	BSU	Women's Tennis	Spencerville, MD	Sr.	4.0	Studio Art

      


SECOND TEAM

Name	School	Sport	Hometwon	Class	GPA	Major
Joi Emanuel	FSU	Volleyball	Charlotte, NC	Sr.	3.5	Forensic Science/Chemistry
Ifeyinwa Nwokolo	FSU	Volleyball	Greensboro, NC	Sr.	3.2	Nursing
Jasmine Whitehurst	ECSU	Women's Basketball	Elizabeth City, NC	Jr.	3.8	Physical Education
Andre Monti	SU	Men's Tennis	Campinas, Brazil	Jr.	3.7	Business
German Reyes	WSSU	Baseball	Santo Domingo, Dominican	Sr.	3.6	Business Administration
Juan Sanchez	SU	Men's Tennis	Guayaquil, Ecuador	So.	3.8	Business
Teddy Bacote	SAU	Football	Hampton, VA	Jr.	3.5	Accounting
Charles Silva	SU	Men's Tennis	Salvador, Brazil	Jr.	3.3	Business
Bria Jones	WSSU	Softball	Fayetteville, NC	So.	3.9	Political Science
Manuela Rigaud	WSSU	Women's Track and Field	Fort Myers, FL	Sr.	3.7	Psychology

* = Scholar-Athlete of the Year


BSU = Bowie State University
CU = Chowan University
ECSU = Elizabeth City State University
FSU = Fayetteville State University
JCSU = Johnson C. Smith University
SAU = Saint Augustine's University
SU = Shaw University
WSSU = Winston-Salem State University

Bowie State's Polk named to NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Committee

BOWIE, Md. – Bowie State University Associate Athletic Director/Senior Woman Administrator has been appointed to the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Committee.

“I am honored to serve on the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Committee,” Polk said.  This will be a great opportunity to work with a group of administrators to promote Division II women’s basketball while watching great student-athletes.  Polk will begin her term of service September 1, 2013 and continue through September 1, 2017.

Polk served previously on the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Women’s Basketball Ranking Committee from 2007-2010 and currently serves on the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Softball Ranking Committee.

Sunshine and skin cancer: the real story     It turns out that a new type of nail polish may increase your risk of cancer. I'll give you the details in a minute, but because we're moving into summertime, let's first take a look at one of the other things we do to make ourselves look good: getting some sun. . . Continued below. . . Video of the Week: "Shocking Confessions of a Drug Company Insider"     In this exposé, a top executive of a major pharmaceutical company spills the naked truth about the drugs you and your family take... which drugs heal, and which ones KILL... what doctors turn to when they don't know the cure... what they do when they themselves or their loved ones are stricken with disease or illness... what life-saving resource they insist should be in every home. Watch this must-see video now because your life -- or the life of your loved ones -- may depend on it.     You hear a lot of warnings that too much sun may give you skin cancer. Other than smoking, this is one of the few cancer prevention ideas mainstream medicine gets excited about.     It's too bad they don't use their resources and all those public service TV and radio commercials for something more worthwhile. The cancer danger from ultraviolet rays is pretty small.     The best evidence I've seen indicates that sunshine may cause mild, practically harmless basal cell carcinomas. Almost nobody ever dies of this type of skin cancer, although it can blemish the skin. The deadly type of skin cancer is melanoma and, surprisingly, the evidence isn't conclusive on whether UV rays cause melanoma. In any case, very few people die of melanoma.     Now, I'm not saying go out and get as tanned as you want. Too much UV exposure does age the skin and most likely causes the mild form of skin cancer. What's more, the damage from the tans and burns we get when we're young doesn't show up for decades. It's a case of "enjoy now, pay a terrible price later."     So assuming you don't want dry, wrinkled skin and nasty little black lesions when you're an old coot like me, you should keep your sun exposure brief and moderate. Boosting your vitamin D levels is the only real health reason to take in UV rays, and a little bit of exposure (well short of what it takes to give a white person a tan) is plenty for that purpose. But there's another danger here, and it doesn't come from the sun. . .     Conventional medicine's "cure" for too much sun may be worse than the disease. Some researchers are just as concerned about sunscreens as a potential carcinogen as they are about UV rays.     I've been warning about this possibility for years. There have been few or no long-term studies on whether it's safe to slather sunscreen chemicals all over our bodies. But people think, "Surely the government checks out all these products." Right.     I see young parents covering infants and toddlers with sunscreen from head to toe. It's scary.     Now there's some evidence my hunch may be right. Cell toxicity studies conducted by researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology suggest that a common sunscreen ingredient, zinc oxide, may be at the root of the problem.     Dr. Yinfa Ma, Curators' Teaching Professor of chemistry, led research studies which found that exposing this ingredient to sunlight causes a chemical reaction that may release unstable molecules known as free radicals.     According to the study published in the Journal of Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, as free radicals try to bond with other molecules, they cause cell damage that could increase the risk of skin cancer.     Dr. Ma's team also theorized that the longer zinc oxide is exposed to sunlight, the greater damage it causes to human cells.     If this study is accurate, then using sunscreen to protect your body from UV rays couldspeed up the formation of cancer-causing free radicals.     But the study authors caution against jumping to conclusions. Dr. Ma noted that this study was just a beginning and additional research is needed.     No doubt that's true, but I haven't used sunscreen for years (I don't like the stuff anyway). I recommend avoiding it and taking the following steps instead: Cover your skin with light clothing (but not too light; the rays can penetrate extremely sheer material) Seek shady spots when you're outdoors Get your exposure at times of day when the sun is not so intense (morning and evening); during the summer, 10 AM to 2 PM is generally the time when the sun is most intense and you can fry really fast Eat plenty of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables to help fight free radicals Apply skin care products enriched with green tea, vitamin C or other antioxidants to the outside of your skin. I've read that a mixture of vitamin C in water, applied to the skin, is a good sunscreen. I haven't tried it.     These solutions may sound simple and "un-medical" — they don't come out of pharmacy. But sometimes the most effective solutions don't have to be complicated at all! Now, about that cancer-causing nail polish. . .     At the 2012 Democratic National Convention, the First Lady sparked a fashion craze by wearing a unique shade of blue-gray gel nail polish.     Nail salons nationwide reported an uptick in clients searching for this long-lasting, chip resistant polish.     Because gel nail colors require a UV light source to dry and seal the color, they're mainly applied by the pros. But some manufacturers have created home kits that include a mini UV lamp to help you achieve the same look at home.     Many women love these gel colors because some can last as long as three weeks! But that kind of durability makes it harder to remove the polish too.     You have to soak your nails in acetone for10 to 15 minutes to remove the polish. That sounds like a bad idea to me, right off the bat. The acetone can dry your nails… irritate the skin near your nails… and even escalate to form rashes or blisters on your skin!     An American Academy of Dermatology press statement cites one study in which dermatologists examined five women who complained of weak, brittle and thinning nails that they suspected were caused by gel manicures.     The dermatologists agreed that their problems were likely a result of the gel manicures.     What's more, one of the women underwent two additional tests to measure the nail plate before and after one gel manicure. These tests confirmed that nail plate thinning occurred. So what's the cancer connection?     Gel nail polish may pose a cancer threat on two levels…     First of all, some of these polishes contain the chemical preservative butylated hydroxyanisol (BHA), which the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found to be a consistent cause of tumors in laboratory animals.     Likewise, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies BHA as a possible human carcinogen.     Scientists are not sure how much exposure you would need for cancer to develop, but it's wise to be cautious.     Not all gel polishes contain this chemical, so be sure to check the ingredient list on any bottle you plan to use.     The second potential cancer threat from gel manicures has to do with the application process. Remember that gel polish applications require a UV lamp to set. Does this UV exposure pose a cancer danger? At least one conventional expert thinks so. . .     Dr. Susan Taylor, dermatologist and clinical researcher, said that exposure to this UV light for just four to eight minutes every two weeks can wind up being a significant level of exposure.     I'm skeptical that the UV angle of this nail polish is much of a problem. Are women going to get melanoma lesions on their fingertips from a brief UV exposure? I suspect not. But, as I said before, it ages the skin and may also cause less deadly types of skin cancer. And who needs that?     Dr. Taylor has three recommendations for people who prefer gel manicures to traditional nail polish: Apply an SPF 30 or higher sunscreen directly to your hands and fingers after you wash them midway through the manicure. (Obviously, I don't agree with her on this.) Cut the tips off a pair of cotton gloves and wear these while applying polish and during the time your fingers are under the UV light. This isn't a bad idea. Find a manicurist that uses LED (light emitting diode) light to set the gel polish. Like many beauty treatments (hair dyes, for example — see Issue #272) this one sounds like more risk than it's worth. Your move. . .

Warrior Island Casting Call Season 2 Atlantic City

Do you think you have what it takes to be the next Martial Arts Action Movie Star or MMA Champion.  Anyone 18 or over can do a Tryout Video for the Producers this Saturday in Atlantic City at the Sheraton.     Global Proving Ground (GPG), a fast rising worldwide combat sports organization, and Bodybuilding.com, the largest online retailer of health and fitness supplements, are partnering up to bring you a new reality-based sports show, Warrior Island. "We are casting Season 2 of the show by having millions of fans vote on Youtube, Facebook & Twitter with our unique social networking platform" states show's creator James Jefferson. Warrior Island maroons these elite fighters on an island in the Pacific Ocean, where they must train old school martial arts with the Martial Arts Masters from around the world. Masters Renzo Gracie, Dan Severn, Chung Chow, Relson Gracie and Ron Van Clief will instill knowledge and skill within these fighters. The Director and Producers describe the show as Enter the Dragon meets Blood Sport in this highly anticipated Hollywood production from veteran Director Ben Perry and Executive Producer Steve Tornabene. With expert fitness and nutrition training by Bodybuilding.com's Phd Jim Stoppani and action movie star Silvio Simac Warrior Island fighters will have every advantage to improve their abilities before the fights begin.   The fighters must then fight in an open soft pit to stay on the island and continue to strive to become champion of Warrior Island!    If you would like to shoot your 2 minute tryout video this Saturday RSVP toJefferson.J@GlobalProvingGround.com every fighter or martial artists that does a video gets a free t shirt. You can also call 609-923-2663      Join in for the First Chinese Kung Fu & Karate Expo Hall of Fame. This is the First Historic Martial Arts Awards & Seminar event ,be part of it. Our event is Limited in size this time first comes first serve. The Chinese Kung Fu & Karate Expo is now looking for new additions to our event, Vendors, students, Masters & Grand Masters for seminars. Price Awards from black belt to grand master Master and Grand Master nominated awards are $150.00 which include the seminars and dinner. If you are attending the seminars and dinner the cost is $100.00 Dinner only $65.00, Seminars only $35.00. BB- Grand Master Ticket for Awards and Dinner is online right nowwww.ackungfu.net NAFMA Chinese Kung Fu & Karate Expo 2013 Presents Grandmaster /Author/ American Martial Arts Founder Hanshi Stephen Kaufman Seminars & Demos, Autographs, Words of Wisdom from the Top Martial Arts Author of all time, His book the Book of 5 Rings has sold more then 1 Million Copy's! We will also be holding Private Seminars which is additional cost. So far , Soke David & Cuts , & Master Mike Andrus , The Great Master Yogi Shanti Desai Yoga Seminar & Certification, Martial Arts Certification will be holding longer Private Seminars then what we feature at our Public Seminars. The Last Event we did was July 7th 2012 at Caesars Casino we Pushed with New Ideas , lots of Seminars we had more then 46 Kung Fu & Karate Masters Doing Seminars & Demos, Casting and more , but Further more we created stronger friendships. join in for one of the Largest Martial Arts Events of the year. Combo with Global Proving Grounds and the World Championships for Nafma. Be Part of the one of The Largest Martial Arts events of the year Contact Sifu Cliff 609-665-3889 Tickets are on www.ackungfu.net Under Expo 2013 * Limited space *

History of a different kind was made this weekend

DC Divas Fall Short in Record-Setting Duel, 81-54
Neal Rozendaal

Boston, MA – Against an ordinary team, 54 points would be good enough to win a football game.

The 2013 Boston Militia are no ordinary team.

The DC Divas and Boston Militia shattered the WFA record for most combined points in a single game, but the Divas came up on the short end of an 81-54 final score. The Divas (4-2) fought valiantly on offense, scoring 54 points despite losing star running back Kenyetta Grigsby due to injury early in the first quarter. But they ultimately had no chance against a Boston team that scored 12 touchdowns on their first 13 possessions.

Grigsby went down with an injury on the Divas’ second series of the game, and the DC offense struggled in the first quarter in her absence. An 88-yard touchdown pass from Allyson Hamlin to Ashley Whisonant gave the Divas their first points of the game, but DC trailed, 28-7, after the first quarter.

The Militia (6-0) scored their fifth touchdown of the game one minute into the second quarter to extend their lead to 35-7, and it looked like the contest was destined to be a Boston blowout. Instead, the Divas’ offense regained their balance and matched the Militia point for point from then on. The resurgent DC offense kept the Divas within striking distance and turned the contest into the greatest shootout in WFA history.

Starting tight end Donna Wilkinson – the only member of the roster who played for the Divas’ inaugural team in 2001 – shifted from tight end to the running back position in the second quarter, and the DC offense exploded. Wilkinson was a record-setting running back for the Divas earlier in her career, and she proved that she can still handle the job, carrying the ball time and again for solid gains. Wilkinson’s hard running provided balance to the DC offense and helped them move the ball down the field.

Hamlin found Whisonant in the end zone on two more occasions in the second quarter; the Divas trailed at halftime, 55-21. Less than two minutes into the second half, Hamlin threw her fourth touchdown of the game, this one to Juliette Baker-Brice to cut the deficit to 55-28.

The DC defense then provided their only highlight of the evening, stopping Boston’s Whitney Zelee on fourth down to get the ball back for the Divas. The offense took advantage as Hamlin threw her fourth touchdown pass to Whisonant, which sliced the margin to 55-35.

Hamlin found Whisonant in the end zone for a fifth time on the Divas’ next possession, which again drew the Divas within twenty at 61-41. Ashley Whisonant ended the game with five receiving touchdowns. When Boston’s Whitney Zelee scored just before the end of the third quarter to give the Militia a 67-41 lead, the contest surpassed the record for the most points ever scored in a WFA game with a full quarter still remaining.

Wilkinson gave the Divas their first rushing touchdown of the game with 12:02 left, which again cut the deficit to twenty at 67-47. Just over five minutes later, Kasee Hillard snared Hamlin’s seventh touchdown pass of the game and pulled DC within 73-54. But the Militia tacked on their 12th touchdown of the game moments later for the final points of the game, and the Divas fell to an 81-54 defeat.

The 135 total points scored easily surpassed the previous WFA record of 105, set last season in the Kansas City Tribe’s 63-42 victory over the St. Louis Slam. The Divas’ 54 points were also the most ever scored in a losing effort, topping the 42 scored by St. Louis in that game.

The 81 points surrendered by the Divas was easily the most ever yielded in franchise history, topping the 56 points the Militia racked up against DC in their first meeting this year. At the same time, the 54 points the Divas tallied against Boston was by far the most points Boston has ever given up in a single game, topping the previous record of 36 scored by the Divas in a 2010 contest.

DC will get two weeks to rest from this exhausting scoring duel. After a scheduled bye week, the Divas next take the field at home on June 1 against the Pittsburgh Passion in a game that will likely decide the division championship. Pictures and video available on Facebook at D.C. Divas football.

Bodybuilding.com becomes Title Sponsor for Warrior Island

May 2013     Bodybuilding.com Partners with Global Proving Ground's New Reality Show Warrior Island Los Angeles - May 20, 2013 - Global Proving Ground (GPG), a fast rising worldwide combat sports organization, and Bodybuilding.com, the largest online retailer of health and fitness supplements, are partnering up to bring you a new reality-based sports show, Warrior Island. "We cast the show by having millions of fans vote on Youtube, Facebook & Twitter with our unique social networking platform" states show's creator James Jefferson. Warrior Island maroons these elite fighters on an island in the Pacific Ocean, where they must train old school martial arts with the Martial Arts Masters from around the world. Masters Renzo Gracie, Dan Severn, Chung Chow, Relson Gracie and Ron Van Clief will instill knowledge and skill within these fighters. The Director and Producers describe the show as Enter the Dragon meets Blood Sport in this highly anticipated Hollywood production from veteran Director Ben Perry and Executive Producer Steve Tornabene. With expert fitness and nutrition training by Bodybuilding.com's Phd Jim Stoppani and action movie star Silvio Simac Warrior Island fighters will have every advantage to improve their abilities before the fights begin.   The fighters must then fight in an open soft pit to stay on the island and continue to strive to become champion of Warrior Island! "Bodybuildling.com is just the strategic partner we needed to launch our TV show and we are also excited about them being part of our worldwide fight league, Global Proving Ground," said Warrior Island creator, James Jefferson. "Bodybuilding.com is the online industry leader in health and fitness supplements. Their goals align perfectly with GPG and will help us take Warrior Island to the next level." "We are truly excited about partnering with GPG and Warrior Island," said Ryan DeLuca, CEO and founder of Bodybuilding.com. "Mixed martial arts is exploding in popularity and involves some of the most physically fit athletes in the world. Keeping a competitive edge is key for these athletes," said DeLuca, "by using proper training, nutrition and supplementation. So many of our customers love MMA, our partnership with GPG is a natural fit." For more information on Global Proving Ground and to see the contestants of Warrior Island, please visit http://www.globalprovingground.com.  About Global Proving Ground (GPG) Global Proving Ground (GPG) is the ideal platform for fighters of all martial arts disciplines to showcase their skills on a global level. It is THE place for promoters, sponsors, television producers, match makers and fight managers to discover new elite fight talent. GPG offers skilled combat sports athletes of all disciplines useful tools to help showcase their skills and advance their careers. It is also a place for fans to show support for their favorite amateur and professional fighters. More info at GlobalProvingGround.com About Bodybuilding.com Bodybuilding.com is the world's largest online sports nutrition store, based in Meridian, Idaho. Offering more than 9,900 health & fitness supplements and accessories, shipping to more than 155 countries. Bodybuilding.com helps more than 26 million people every month achieve their health, fitness and appearance goals, by offering over 28,000 pages of FREE information, including more than 20,000 articles and 8,000 videos, expert online trainers, and new content added daily.  For more information please visitwww.bodybuilding.com. Join our Social Networking to keep in touch.      FACEBOOK click here    TWITTER:  click here                   YOUTUBE: click here

How Drug Companies Price What Your Life is Worth     Of all the appalling things we deal with when it comes to modern medicine, Big Pharma is the worst.     The greedy, gluttonous drug industry rakes in multibillion-dollar profits by charging cancer patients as much as six-figures a year for "life-saving" medication that, in fact, offers no confident chance of healing at all.     Recently, a group of 120 leading cancer specialists decided they'd had enough and launched a protest against the greed of Big Pharma, written up in a new paper published inBlood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology. I'm more than excited that cancer doctors, of all people, are finally blowing the whistle. Let's get right to it. . . Continued below. . . The One Word every cancer patient must know     Your doctor's reading the results, you know it's the worst news, and you snap out of it just in time to hear him say...     "I'm going to recommend an aggressive chemotherapy regimen."     That's when you say one word that sucks the air out of the entire doctor's office.     It's a new cancer therapy that doctors are whispering about behind closed doors...and doctors will be stunned you know about it.     $4 billion has already been spent researching it--making it one of the largest research initiatives in medical history.     And the results are powerful--Tumor shrinkage in 86% of lung cancer patients.     Once "incurable" brain tumors put on hold. And these revelations are already rushing 374 clinical trials into hospitals.     But you can't call this new hope therapy "aggressive" like chemo, because there is no poison, there are no toxins.     In fact, this therapy could have you alive and thriving.     Find out the one word that will have your doctor asking, "how did you hear about this?"     Drug prices related to medical illness are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the U.S. Many patients are required by their insurance providers to pay roughly 20 percent of the total cost of the drug. That quickly adds up to sky-rocketing out-of-pocket payments. Just in the last ten years, average monthly costs for cancer drugs have doubled, up from $5,000 to more than $10,000 per month.     In 2012, 11 out of the 12 new cancer drugs approved by the FDA were priced at well over $100,000 a year. We're not even talking about miracle drugs here. Only three of the 11 new drugs improved patient survival rates beyond a reasonable doubt. Two of those only boosted survival by two months.     Call me coldhearted, but I'm really and truly puzzled that people would pay more than $100,000 for two more months of life, especially two miserable months on chemo. I don't get it. For this we leave our spouses and children destitute?     Some of these patients are just following doctors' orders, but some are well-informed enough to know what they're doing — because many oncologists will tell a late-stage patient the 'official estimate' of just how much extra time another round of chemo will buy them. Most of the time the answer is "not much."     And the unofficial estimate is even worse — chemo shortens life as often as it extends it. For the late-stage patient it's a bust (literally, in terms of their bank account.) Of course, mainstream doctors don't know the "unofficial" figure — or claim they don't — but even their drug-company-provided estimate that you'll live two more weeks or two more months or whatever is so absurd, I marvel that patients go for it. They charge what they can get away with, insurance companies will pay     Most people don't realize that pharmaceutical companies are the ones who dictate price. All the FDA does is give approval. Then drug companies look at their research and development costs, factor in the expense of drugs that didn't get approval, add in education and ad costs, and then (I would guess) throw in a nice buffer for profits.     Here's more that'll make your blood boil: Some U.S. drug prices are two to four times as much as you'll pay for the same thing in other countries. And in the U.S., patients whose drug costs are covered by the Department of Veterans Affairs pay drug prices that are 50 percent lower than prices paid by Medicare patients—because the VA is allowed to negotiate drug payments and Medicare can't.     Worse still, U.S. drug manufacturers can actually pay the makers of generic drugs to keep their cheaper versions of a drug off the market for a limited period of time (usually a number of months). It's called "pay to delay" and brings clear profits. According to Ralph Neas, president of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, healthcare spending was reduced by more than $1 trillion thanks to earlier introduction of generic drugs over the past 10 years.2     We need to see the same thing happen with cancer treatment and drugs. Why Big Pharma drives thousands of people to bankruptcy     The 120 doctors who published a protest are specialists in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a condition for which a daily drug is commonly prescribed. The costs add up fast. The patients have to pay a high price just to stay alive. As the experts say in their protest, their patients are the financial victims of successful drug company tests.     New studies are finding that many CML patients and other cancer patients simply stop filling their prescriptions because they can't afford them. The American Cancer Society conducted a survey that found one cancer patient out of four puts off getting tests or treatments because of the exorbitant costs.     To defend themselves, the pharmaceutical companies claim high costs when it comes to drug development. But that defense falls flat when you look at companies like Swiss drug maker Novartis, the maker of Gleevac, which grossed a staggering $4.7 billion in sales last year alone.     Even one of the doctors who was part of developing Gleevac, Dr. Brian Druker, thinks Novartis has gone too far. After suggesting they could easily get by with a few billion less, Dr. Druker told The New York Times, "When do you cross the line from essential profits to profiteering?"1     This most recent outcry toward drug companies by the medical establishment was inspired by doctors from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). Last year, those doctors refused to use Zaltrap, a new colon cancer drug, because it cost more than twice as much as a similar drug called Avatin. Yet, Zaltrap proved to be no better in terms of treatment outcomes than the cheaper Avatin.     The boycott at Memorial Sloan Kettering worked, and the manufacturer of Zaltrap has since cut the price by half. Interesting to note, though, was that the boycott crossed a major line—and set a precedent. Up till then, doctors were constantly under pressure to use any treatment that appeared to be new and better.     So while it seems like a no-brainer to boycott a drug that costs twice as high with no appreciable improvement in results … it actually raised some eyebrows, simply because doctors had never done anything like that before. (A "herd of independent minds" is the appropriate phrase for this profession.) The boycott was a step in the right direction — long overdue, in fact.     The reality is, most new drugs are no improvement over generic drugs that have been around for years, yet they're touted as a great new breakthrough and doctors dutifully prescribe them. I'm talking about ALL types of drugs, not just cancer drugs. The norm is for a "new" drug to be a minor tweak of an old drug. Or, even if a drug is genuinely new, in most cases it doesn't perform any better than older drugs that are off-patent and inexpensive. But the tweak or the mediocre "new discovery" can be protected by patent and priced accordingly.     But at least it's promising to know that so many oncologists out there have finally become mindful of the expensive technology and treatments they recommend. Soaring costs are pushing them to honor a new obligation, which is the consideration of financial strains they place on their patients when trying to treat them. Proactive lifestyle choices are still your best bet     The cost of cancer care is just one facet of a much bigger problem, the overall cost of conventional care. That's why I advocate as much proactive healthcare on your part as possible, so you can avoid this mess of money and greed in medicine.     I beg you with all my heart, get over the idea that you can neglect your health, let yourself go, eat and drink anything you like, adopt a "what-me-worry" attitude toward all the toxins around us — and somehow a miracle drug or high tech device will come along and make everything all right when you hit middle age or old age and your health falters.