Not only are they fellow Londonderry locals, but the Senate President and the Speaker are each other’s “other side of the wall” counterparts in leadership. Anyone well versed in NH civics knows that the former is an office of higher prestige than the latter. Rep Moffett even pointed out who’s next in line to become acting governor in his recent article.
Most readers are already familiar with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) and their recent decision to refuse a kidney transplant to a patient for refusing to roll up her sleeve. This puts DHMC in violation of the Patients’ Bill of Rights, which is a law that took effect in May of 2022. Upper management is emboldened to ignore a law that’s no longer new.
Despite there being many things to complain about in our Speaker, he did the right thing as a public servant in leadership by sending a letter to Dr Conroy, DHMC’s CEO, that they are in violation of RSA 151:21, XXII, but will Queen Sharon do the same? Maybe there’s no strategic value in such duplicity, but it would be nice to know that she condemns DHMC just as much. How about a press release or even a tweet? She should be cornered by Sexton and Landrigan and forced to go on record.
Not so fast! Queen Sharon is controlled by Big Pharma nearly as much as Big Unions. Looking at followthemoney dot org, it appears that Pfizer is her 6th biggest donor with $8650. But “wait, there’s more,” as those late-night UHF TV infomercials would say. Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers Association of America is #3 with $11,500. There’s $4100 from Merck, $3650 from the NH Hospital Association, and $3000 from AstraZeneca. There’s $3200 from Cigna and $2624 from Walgreen’s (think John Legend and the Jab ads). There’s $2275 from the NH Medical Society and $1450 from Anthem.
All the above is on Page 1 when you click her “top donors” link. I’ve been told by a rep that Follow the Money and Open Secrets are not always accurate and up to date, and it was suggested that the Secretary of State’s office is a good place to fact-check the data if one is so inclined. But before Rep Moffett criticizes me for telling readers to do their own fact-checking, I will point out that the SoS website is very user-unfriendly. I speak from experience when I was investigating Burns and his paperwork before his executive council primary.
I’m not on about any particular bill currently in the legislature; it’s a message to get readers to ask why the letter to Dr. Conroy wasn’t a joint one from both Londonderry leaders of the legislature. I surmise that Queen Sharon’s silence has to do with “Donors’ Orders.”
