Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: A noble reason to unite

Friday, Nov. 14, 2003 | 5:53 a.m.

Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun.

WEEKEND EDITION Nov. 15 - 16, 2003

A QUANTUM LEAP for medicine in Nevada.

Next week the Nevada Cancer Institute will hold its "Rock for the Cure" dinner to raise funds for what promises to be a major step forward in the quality and quantity of care for cancer patients in Nevada.

What has been a dream of Heather and Jim Murren ever since they moved to Las Vegas is inching closer to the reality that one day people who need help can find it here, without the need to seek treatment elsewhere. From the day they told us about their idea we have been supporters. We are even more so today.

It is a fact that within the next few years every other family in America will be affected by cancer. Whether a relative or a close friend, cancer will strike and lives will be changed dramatically. Whether those afflicted will survive will have a lot to do with the quality of care, the degree of research available and the patient's ability to access treatment.

I realize it is somewhat difficult for most people to get their hands and minds around an idea that could take years to come to fruition, especially when there are always more pressing needs that require ever-dwindling resources. Pick the disease and you will understand the problem.

But cancer is the kind of killer that everyone understands and which everyone knows must be cured if our families and friends are to be freed from the kind of devastation that this miserable disease causes. And if you are the least bit uncertain about that statement, ask a friend. Or ask me.

This state is a leader in a number of different kinds of cancers. Whether it is from our own lifestyle -- you know, the smoking and drinking and car-exhaust-breathing environment which we have created for ourselves -- or the environment imposed upon us -- that would be the federal government's continuing effort to make us sick while exploding atomic bombs or burying high-level nuclear waste within shouting distance of Las Vegas -- the fact remains that we can and should take the lead at caring for and curing the people of this state.

I know firsthand what it means to be able to take a loved one to a center of excellence, where the doctors and the researchers are the best in the country and where the quality of medical care is even better. I know that oftentimes the ability to make that trip may be the difference between life and death. And I also know that a few of us have that ability and most Nevadans do not. That situation must change. That situation can change.

But nothing happens until a committed community is willing to take that first bold step. That's what the Murrens have done through their leadership as slowly but surely they are getting the kind of resources -- human and financial -- that it takes to make the Nevada Cancer Institute the kind of place where Nevada cancers can be treated and Nevada's lives can be saved.

But all the money and people efforts combined cannot make this thing work unless the people of this state recognize the need and support it politically.

The MD Anderson Cancer and Research facility in Houston is known around the world as one of the premier centers for cancer research and treatment. It didn't happen overnight and it couldn't have happened without the commitment of the state through the University of Texas, which has created a vast medical complex for the treatment of practically every ailment known to man.

If Texas had been like Nevada, for example, where the north fights with the south and there must always be a tit for tat without regard to the needs of the population bases in each part of the state, it is unlikely that the Texas medical center could have ever succeeded. A center, by the way, that is open to all Texans regardless of their ability to pay.

And, once we get past the politics involved, a center of excellence needs the support of the local medical community. Turf wars and profit motives must give some way to allow for excellence to be achieved and the best to be accomplished.

I know a bit about medicine in Las Vegas. There are wonderful and dedicated practitioners here but there are also powerful forces opposed to change, especially when that change will affect their pocketbooks. That is a situation that cries out for leadership.

I suppose there are any number of obstacles that can be placed in the way of excellence but I am confident that the Nevada Cancer Institute and its growing number of supporters will find the ways and means to break through them.

Why? Because we, as a community, don't have a choice unless you believe that dying needlessly in Las Vegas is the kind of choice you want for your loved ones!

The fact is that Las Vegas is fast becoming one of the largest cities in America with the financial and creative ability to demand and expect the very best of everything. Health care should be at the top of the list.

When the Siegfried & Roy Theater is packed this coming Thursday night -- for the first time since Roy Horn's tragic accident -- with people determined to make a difference, it will become clear to everyone that cancer can be defeated, that treatment can be available and that medical science will have the answers we need to make our lives and those of our families better as a result.

And when that happens, Las Vegans will not have to leave town for the best. They'll need only go down the street.