Managing Fear

Re “Anxieties in U.S. Build as Scares Multiply,” Oct. 13: As our scarce medical resources are being spent on expensive antibiotics, i.e., ciprofloxacin, when other cheaper drugs may be just as effective, i.e., doxycycline and penicillin, we should be apportioning funds to chemical/biological/nuclear detection devices for our citizens. By empowering our people with knowledge of an attack directly, we provide the right defense against fear of the unknown. Once these detectors are triggered, the individual would go to his or her medical department for further evaluation and treatment. The current policy of fear management is not working and will likely lead to the terrorists winning this war--and that would be unthinkable.

Craig Michael Uhl MD

Monarch Beach