U.S. Government Sues Drug Company For Fraud

Summary of Article: Federal prosecutors have sued Novartis, alleging that the company paid for expensive dinners and events for doctors to entice the doctors to prescribe Novartis drugs to their patients.

Discussion of Article:

• When you are sick and take medicine, that medicine is made by a company. How does your doctor know which medicine to give you when you are sick? (Answer: doctors try different drugs to see which ones they like; they read articles to see which ones work; they ask other doctors for advice; they hear educational presentations from other doctors.)
• Companies that make medicines try to get doctors to use their medicine in different ways. What are some ways you would try if you were a drug company? (Drug reps come to doctors offices to make a drug pitch, like a traveling salesman and give free samples; they give presentations at conferences; they advertise in magazines; they sponsor research studies that are published in medical journals). 
• One company is in trouble right now for trying to get doctors to use their medicine by buying the doctor expensive dinners, taking the doctors on fishing trips, sending the doctors on paid vacations, etc. This is known as "kickbacks" and it is illegal. Why? 
• Novartis is being accused of spending more than $65 millions over the course of 9 years on alleged kickbacks. In one case, a Florida doctor was paid $3750 to speak to other doctors about the drug and to convince them to use it. This is called a conflict of interest. Why is this wrong?
• What harm could come to patients from this?
• [Note: when my husband was in residency, several drug companies took us out to expensive dinners at kosher restaurants with a few other doctors and their wives to "pitch" a drug. The dinners had no expense limit. Everyone ordered whatever they wanted and the bill came to hundreds of dollars. The dinners were 95% social, with the drug rep talking about the drug for about 5 minutes. Ask your kids: was this right? How could this make a doctor feel about a certain drug in a way that is a potential conflict of interest?]

Israeli Policewomen Win Fight to Have Own Elite Unit

Summary of Article:  For the last few years, Israel women doing their compulsory military service in the Border police complained of discrimination; mainly, that they served as guards while men got to learn combat and do "real" border police work, which is thwarting terrorist attacks. As a result, women also could not become officers and rise in the ranks. Women were already serving in combat positions in the army, but similar opportunities were lacking in the border police force, known as being particularly misogynistic. Women demanded reforms and in July 2012, women got their own police unit, a special unit in Jerusalem comprised only of women. Their job is to catch potential terrorists and thwart terrorist attacks. Women in the unit are much happier now.

Discussion with Kids:

• What happens when you graduate high school in America? (Most people go to college.) What happens when you graduate in Israel? (Boys serve 3 years in the army; girls serve 2 years as soldiers or doing national service; then they go to college).
• What are some jobs in the Israeli army? (Soldier, navy, intelligence, clerical, training soldiers). Women and men do many of the same jobs. Women are even fighters. There is one unit of the army called the Border Police. Their job is to stop bad guys. 
• Explain article summary. 
• If you were in the Israeli army, what would you want to be? What do you think is hard about being in the army? What do you think is great about being in the Israeli army? 
• For pictures of the women fighters, click here.

French Court Case Finds Israel Occupation of West Bank Not Illegal

Summary of Article: the PLO and Palestinian Authority sued several French companies for building a tram in Jerusalem that projects into Palestinian land, which they claim is illegally occupied.  After a lengthy suit, the French Court just found that the disputed land is not illegally occupied by Israel and that the PLO/PA had to pay 90,000 eros in court costs to the firms. 

Discussion with Kids:

• Look at a map of Israel. The land marked as Samara/Judea, also known as the West Bank, was won by Israel in 1967 after 6 days of war. Now some Jews live there and some Palestinians live there. It is still undecided who owns the land. Some Palestinians claim that it all belongs to them and want to build a state there; Israel doesn't know what to do because without some of that land, Israel does not feel safe. Plus many Jews are living there now and don't want to leave.
• Israel recently build a tram in Jerusalem. Why? (Decrease congestion and traffic; help tourists). Some Palestinians claim that the tram is not allowed because it stretches into the West Bank (East Jerusalem). Click here for pictures of the light rail and map of where it goes. 
• They sued the companies building the tram. The sued in France because the companies are French. 
• A French court just found that the Palestinians are wrong and they ordered them to pay money to the companies for suing them. Why? (To deter frivolous litigation in the future).
• The Court found that the Palestinians were wrong because the international law that the Palestinians wanted to use only applies to states. Israel is a state but the Palestinians do not have a state yet. So the law does not apply here. 
• And, according to that law, the Court found that Israel is not in the West Bank without permission. (The full text of the case is not yet translated but one argument is that under international law, a land is only illegally occupied if it is seized from another state. Before 1967, the West Bank was illegally occupied by Jordan, who seized it in 1948; before 1948, the West Bank was colonized by the British; before that by the Ottomans. So it is really stateless land, which by definition cannot therefore be illegally occupied by Israel).

Jews From the Amazon to Begin Aliyah to Israel

Summary of Article: A group of 284 Jewish converts from Peru's rain forest have received permission from Israel's Interior Ministry to begin making aliyah to Israel. The group is joining previous waves of converts from the rain forest (in 2001 and 2005). They come from Inquitos, the largest city in Peru's rain forest. In the 1800s, Jews from Morocco settled in the rain forest to work in the rubber industry. They married local women and had children. These converts are their descendants. They were converted to Judaism in 2011 by a Conservative rabbi, after learning about Judaism for 5 years. They are relocating to Ramle, Israel, where there is already a community of Jews from Inquitos. 

Discussion with Kids:

• Where is Peru? Where is the rain forest? We recently discussed the rain forest. In what context? (Earth Day). Here are pictures of Inquitos.
• Where do Jews live; what does a Jew look like? (Everywhere in the world; Jews come in all colors and ethnicities). Recently, some people living in the Peruvian rain forest decided to become Jews. (Tell the above story). 
• What does it mean to convert to Judaism? Is it hard or easy to do? (Hard -- you must study for many years and then take a big test to show a rabbi that you've learned what it means to be a Jew). 
• Who automatically can move to Israel? (Any Jewish person in the world.) Why is there this special rule, called the Law of Return? (Because for a long time, Jews had no land or place to go to. This law makes sure Jews always have somewhere to go.) The new Jews of the Amazon want to go to Israel. Do you think they should be able to? 
• When they move to Israel, what will be some challenges they will face? Why do you think they want to move?
• What is special about having Inquitos Jews in Israel? (Create diversity, help other Jews learn new traditions, help strengthen and increase the people of Israel). 

Happy Earth Day!

In honor of today being Earth Day, today's discussion will focus on this.

Discussion with Kids:

• What is Earth Day? What did you do at school for Earth Day today? 
• What is a type of Earth Day in Judaism and why? (Tu'Bshvat; we plant trees on both days)
• What are things we can do to make sure the earth stays healthy? (Reduce; reuse; recycle) What are ways we do these things every day? What can we do better? 
• What are ways in which the earth is not as healthy as it can be? 
• Arctic and Antarctic ice is melting at an astonishing rate. This is very dangerous for polar bears and humans. How?
• There's a hole in the ozone, a layer over the earth which is meant to protect us from the sun. Thanks to efforts by countries to reduce pollution, the hole has not grown in size. What can we do to protect ourselves from the harmful rays that come in through the ozone? (Wear sunscreen, hats)
• Coral reefs, similar to the rain forests of the ocean, are in danger from pollution, overuse, and warming waters. What are things we can do to lower our carbon footprint? 
• Forests, particularly rain forests, are vanishing because of consumer demands. What can we do to help? (Reforestation; by used goods instead of new furniture)
• What are other problems the earth is facing (animals in peril; not enough resources for more humans, etc.) What are other ways we can help the earth?

Lawsuit Over Anti-Asian Stereotype

Summary of Article: A Korean woman was picking up photos from a drugstore in New Jersey. She noticed that the name written on her order was "Ching Chong Lee." She complained to customer service, who told her that the worker would be re-trained and counseled. The woman decided that wasn't enough, and is suing for discrimination in federal court for $1 million damages.

Discussion with Kids:

• What is a stereotype? What is an example of a stereotype? In what ways are they harmful?
• In NJ, a woman was picking up her order when she noticed that a store clerk had written her name as a stereotype of Asian-Americans, "Ching Chong Lee." In what way did this hurt her feeling? How would you feel if someone made a similar stereotype about you? (Embarrassed, hurt, afraid).
• What would you do if this happened to you or to someone else in front of you? (Tell the store clerk this is not ok. Complain to management). She complained to the store, which apologized and promised to punish the clerk and retrain him. Do you think this was a good solution? She has decided to go to a judge and try to get $1 million from the store. What do you think of this? Think of arguments for and against this lawsuit 
• Pro: Her feelings were hurt. The employee said a disgusting, hurtful thing. The company should be responsible for how its employees act.
• Con: The store apologized and has punished/retrained its employee. More is unnecessary and even silly. This type of lawsuit floods the court and takes up precious judge time and money. The woman is just out to get money, not truly to repair a grievance. 
• Bonus: Can you think of an anti-Asian stereotype often heard on the playground? What can you do the next time you hear it? (One of the hand-clapping games sings the phrase "Ching-Chong Charlie, Don't tell Mommy. Chinese, Japanese, Indian Chief," while the participant makes their eyes look narrow and then resembles an Indian Chief). 

Schoolchildren in Greece Going Hungry

Summary of Article: Today in Greece, more children are suffering from hunger than ever before. This is due in part to rampant unemployment, where parents have gone for months without work and literally have no money to buy food with. Also, unlike in America where schools have subsidized cafeteria lunches, in Greece, all kids bring lunch from home or buy from a canteen at regular prices.

Discussion with Kids:

• Where is Greece? What are some stories we know of that involve Greeks? (Greek mythology; Chanukah story; Olympics began in Greece) 
• Today in Greece, many grownups cannot find jobs. What happens when grownups can't work? (There's no money in the house). If there's no money in the house, what does that mean? (No money for food, for rent, for clothes, for toys). 
• One big problem is not enough money for food. Schools in Greece don't provide hot lunch like schools in America. What does this mean for some kids?
• What do you think these hungry students are doing to find food? (Teachers are seeing students at school going through trashcans to find food; fainting from hunger; stealing food; having painful stomach cramps; begging food from their friends.)
• How do you think these students feel? (Sad, ashamed, embarrassed, hungry)
• The government wants to help but there is no money. What are ways to help? (Some private organizations are trying to donate lunches; the Greek Orthodox Church is trying to give food).