think of cancer, all you think about is raising money, but money
doesn’t seem to get us anywhere.”
“I got an idea,” said Sal. “It may sound nuts, but I have an idea.” Nick and Jerry waited. As creative people in a creative business, they knew that when someone trustworthy has an idea, it’s best to
stop and listen.
“Son, I got something to tell you,” he began. “The world is driven by money, if you haven’t figured that out already. Greed. Everybody wants to be rich. Most people want to be filthy rich. Every university, every research group wants to score the big medical breakthrough. They want to be the modern-day Jonas Salk. They want to make the big drugs. They want to make billions. They are all chasing a dream. It takes years and years to get a cure for anything. And in the meantime, a lot of people die. So, I think everybody is going about it all wrong. Want to hear my idea?”
“I wouldn’t want to miss this.” Nick sipped a glass of wine, a
Chianti Sal had brought home from Fazio’s. “Whatcha got, Dad?” “In a nutshell, gentlemen, you’re right. There is no cure because
there is too much money involved in treating cancer. To say it’s a billion-dollar business is an understatement. It’s close to a trillion. I ran the Million Dollar Roundtable for twenty-five years. I know what insurance companies pay for the treatment of cancer. It boggles the mind. The number one expense insurance companies face is treating a disease that nobody seems to be able to stop. So, you’re right. We should have a cure. We should have a vaccine. But we don’t. And although there is a little progress made here and there, what’s the one thing we keep hearing?”
Nick looked at Jerry and then they both shrugged.
“Just what they told us about your mother. ‘There is nothing more we can do.’ So people get frustrated, they make pledges, they raise money, give it to research, only to hear the same thing. We can save people from some cancers, but others, forget it. Pancreatic? Get your affairs in order, because no one is going to be able to help you. Sure, they can treat you, but they can’t help you. So, here’s my idea. I was talking to Robert Smith the other day.”
“Robert Smith?” Nick asked. “Sounds familiar.”
“He took over my job as CEO of the Roundtable. His wife is being treated for pancreatic cancer. No one can do anything more than they have done so far. So, I passed something by him. What if