Home Depot carries top-line windows
The March 22, Page 15 story, ``Are small windows extruders a dying breed?'' contained a few inaccuracies, which I would like to address.
Norm McKibbin of Aspen International Group Inc. saw fit to comment on the selection and options available in home centers in the vinyl window category.
He specifically mentioned Home Depot as carrying only a ``plain white vinyl window.''
Not only is this comment inaccurate, it is obvious Mr. McKibbin has not ever researched vinyl windows at Home Depot.
Our American Craftsman line of vinyl products, sold exclusively at Home Depot, is among the most extensive available in the industry. All styles, colors, glass options, etc., are fully represented. They include many or all the features available at smaller dealers. Some of these include Argon gas, Krypton gas, foam-filled frames, state-of-the-art LoE2, laminated security glass, and much more.
As you can see, this hardly represents a ``plain white vinyl window.''
Gregg Proscia
Silver Line Windows
North Brunswick, N.J.
Remark about ethics of PVC is offensive
May I take just a few inches of column space to express my indignation at Jackie Hunt Christensen's March 22 letter regarding vinyl medical products (``PVC-free health care, profit can coexist'')?
It is quite the insult to state, ``The fact that nonvinyl IV bags are available ... shows that the precautionary approach ... can coexist with profit — but only when combined with ethics.''
It is outrageous to imply that the thousands of vinyl and medical device employees who've spent years conducting costly research and development to perfect these products and manufacture them safely, who are in business to answer the needs of doctors, nurses, hospitals and blood banks, are unethical. The moral high ground is not the exclusive territory of Health Care Without Harm.
HCWH ought to be concerned about the ethical implications of urging critically ill patients such as those with breast cancer, endometriosis and white lung to forsake proven medical products. These products are on the market today specifically because they provide dependable service under very demanding conditions — performance that can literally mean the difference between life and death.
The simplistic appeal of the ``precautionary approach'' is just that: simplistic. Let's remember what applying this ``principle'' to medical care would certainly mean that today. We would not enjoy the life-enhancing, and in many cases, life-prolonging benefits of X-rays, open-heart surgery, chemotherapy and other advanced medical techniques and diagnostic tools.
Perhaps Ms. Christensen would like to be the first to wear a Medic Alert bracelet that warns: ``Please don't save my life if it means using vinyl medical products.''
Mark Sofman
Vinyl Institute
Washington
