South Carolina editorial roundup: Friday, Jan. 31, 2020

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Recent editorials from South Carolina newspapers:

The Times and Democrat

Jan. 28

Cancer rates in South Carolina

Cancer remains a most feared disease. But it is no longer a certain death sentence. Much progress has been made.

Researchers this past week reported the largest-ever one-year decline in the U.S. cancer death rate, a drop they credited to advances in lung-tumor treatments.

The overall cancer death rate has been falling about 1.5% a year since 1991. It fell 2.2% from 2016 to 2017, according to an American Cancer Society report. That's the largest drop ever seen in national cancer statistics going back to 1930, said Rebecca Siegel, the lead author.

"It's absolutely driven by lung cancer," which accounts for about a quarter of all cancer deaths, she said. Take lung cancer out of the mix, and the 2017 rate drop is 1.4%, she added.

Experts say advances in treatment of lung cancer relate to refinements in surgery, better diagnostic scanning and more precise use of radiation.

In South Carolina, the new statistics come on the heels of a May 2019 report on the results of a 20-year study of cancer trends that showed mortality rates declining, though the state has among the highest per-capita rates of cancer, and significant health disparities remain for minority populations and rural communities.

On average in South Carolina, more than 26,000 people are diagnosed with invasive cancer, and nearly 10,000 people die from the disease each year.

But medical advances in the state are making a difference.

The Medical University of South Carolina is a leader in the battle against cancer. It has taken an important new step against lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death and the most diagnosed cancer in the state.

MUSC Health in November unveiled the new robotic bronchoscopy system at its Hollings Cancer Center.

"It will make a huge difference," said lung specialist Dr. Nick Pastis, comparing the new system to older methods of testing peripheral lung nodules to see if they're malignant. The system is the only one of its kind in South Carolina.

Lung nodules are small abnormal tissue growths that can be essentially harmless - or very dangerous. The problem in the past was that not only was lung cancer being detected at an advanced stage about 70% of the time, but also when nodules were spotted in earlier stages - when the cancer might be curable - it was sometimes tough to safely examine them.

"Traditionally, a CT-guided needle biopsy was used to diagnose these nodules, but it can have a complication rate as high as 15 to 20% where people get collapsed lungs or bleeding," Pastis says. "So this offers a safer method, and also the opportunity to get a little more information. While doing the bronchoscopy, you can actually see if cancer has spread to other lymph nodes with another scope and determine what stage the cancer is."

In the future, he says the bronchoscope also may be used to treat cancer, using radiofrequency ablation and cryotherapy. Radiofrequency ablation uses an electrical current to heat and destroy cancer cells. Cryotherapy kills cancer by freezing it.

So South Carolina has taken another important step in battling cancer, but perspective is important.

It comes from Dr. Gerald Wilson, chair of the South Carolina Cancer Alliance: "We are moving in the right direction for a state our size, but we are still behind the rest of the country. The best course of action people can take is to speak with their doctors about cancer screenings and lifestyle changes."

The Post and Courier

Jan. 28

New CEO of the Charleston aviation authority benefits from cronyism

It's bad enough that the Charleston County Aviation Authority has chosen a political insider with no relevant experience for its $290,000-a-year top job. Worse is that the public had no input into the decision and little warning that it was coming.

At least the last political insider chosen for the job had extensive business experience that gave us confidence he was up to the task.

So we are gravely concerned by the Charleston County Aviation Authority's decision Monday (Jan. 27) to make County Council Chairman Elliott Summey its next CEO.

Mr. Summey has at best minimal job qualifications: Primarily, he has served on the board by virtue of his position as council chair. The main "qualifications" he has are political connections: his own position and his family's deep political connections, which include his mayor father and several close friends and family in assorted public jobs or roles.

And it's difficult to argue that he's been a successful council chairman. His long tenure there has seen the protracted and incredibly costly project to extend Interstate 526, delays in designing and building a recycling center and the failed plan to renovate the Charleston Naval Hospital. On that latter project, what passes for good news is county council's recent vote to, in Mr. Summey's words, ensure that "the $33 million Naval Hospital debacle turns into a $10 million to $12 million debacle, once everything is done."

We agree with Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie, a board member who complained that the selection process lacked fairness, rigor and depth. Indeed, it was unclear the authority was going to make a CEO decision until a weekend agenda was posted for a Monday meeting that featured two words, "Contractual matters." Why the rush and secrecy? The fact that the authority gave the minimum legal notice required under state law is hardly a consolation to members of the public who deserve a chance to raise questions or provide input.

It should be noted this is the second time in a row the authority felt it wise to offer its top job to a local politician. By most accounts, state Sen. Paul Campbell's seven years at the authority's helm have seen the airport grow and prosper, perhaps because of his experience as the former regional president of the aluminum giant Alcoa. His only black mark was a 2017 DUI arrest: The charges were dismissed, but the incident was embarrassing to all involved.

Aviation authority board member and former Charleston City Councilman Henry Fishburne resigned before Monday's vote, saying the board did not follow proper policies by forgoing a search for a successor to Mr. Campbell, who isn't leaving until June 30. In his parting shot, Mr. Fishburne argued the board should be restructured so its members are less from the political world (Mr. Fishburne himself is a former Charleston City Councilman) and more from the aviation world.

Charleston International Airport has experienced steady growth in the number of flights and passengers, while the authority's other airports on Johns Island and East Cooper seem to have fared well under Mr. Campbell, too. We certainly wish Mr. Summey the same level of success as his predecessor, but we wonder how much he will focus on his new job if he also maintains his current business, Summey Real Estate Advisors. He should step away from that before assuming the role supervising the authority and its $64 million budget.

At least he has indicated he won't seek reelection to his county council seat in November (unlike Mr. Campbell, who continued to serve in the state Senate during his CEO tenure).

But regardless of the airport's current health, the question arises whether the authority's board is experienced enough in aviation matters or simply a well-connected good-old-boy network that rewards friends and rides the wave of the region's current prosperity - and whether it can make the strategic decisions necessary to secure the future of the airport and the many interests that depend on it.

Of course, the still larger issue is whether this is the kind of cronyism voters in Charleston County are willing to accept from their elected leaders. So far, the answer would seem to be yes, absolutely.