To Traub or not to Traub, Silver forgot to Ponder

Marquel, TPVs NYTimes fraud and misprint Section correspondent, was using an ATM card when he read In Silver Case, U.S. Cites Link to Litigation Tied to Asbestos.  A doctor’s obsession with raising money for research on a rare form of cancer helped set off a chain of events that culminated in New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s arrest.

Marquel read, here’s how it worked: Silvers friend, Dr. Taub, sent mesothelioma patients to Silver’s law firm, where Silver never worked any more than in the rest of his life. In other words, zero. But the law firm, without any help or work from Silver, made about two million dollars per case. At about one new case sent over by Taub per month. Twenty five million per year. Year in, year out.

Periodically Taub would complain to Silver that he was referring all these cases to Silver but not getting anything out of it. Silver dug into a discretionary fund he kept and sent Taub a quarter million for research into mesothelioma. Later, after another dry spell, Taub complained again. Another untraceable quarter million. Apparently lots of law firms also sent in money to Columbia Presbyterian, a premier medical research institute in the world, not just the U.S., which established an entire wing for Taub to head as the mesothelioma research lab and clinic.

Marquel was curious about this financial help. Marquel imagined a post Charlie Hebdo institute dedicated to eradicate political satire. They send me a hundred new subscribers every month and every Noël I send them a check for ten thousand euros to advance their cause.

Why would I do that? I get some new subscribers but meanwhile the object of my funding is going to destroy my genre. Would I even consider doing that?

So I went to the law firm to see why they, too, occasionally sent a check to Taub.

“We want to wipe out this cancer if we can,” was the answer.

“Why?” I asked.

“Why? Why? Why? Are you kidding? Why would anybody contribute to cancer research? To wipe it out!” They explained.

“But all your clients, your income, your children’s tuition, comes from mesothelioma.” I observed.

“We’re not so crass.” They insisted.

“It’s not a question of crass. It’s a question of survival. Your firm depends on mesothelioma. Let somebody else fund its research. Why not fund another disease? There’s a lot to pick from. If people learn you’re so self destructive they may stop coming to you despite your success with mesothelioma cases.” I said.

“You think so?” he asked. He paused, leafed through some papers without stopping to read any, and said, “go visit Dr. Taub and judge for yourself whether we were being self destructive or, in fact rather clever, as a law firm should be.”

So I visited him. He wasn’t in his lab, but instead on the slopes of Aspen where he owns a five hundred acre estate. He told me he didn’t have time to talk to me, he had to go skiing.

“What about when you’re not skiing?” I asked.

“No such time, I’m either skiing or sleeping. I’ll talk to you if you want to ski with me.” He said.

I figured we could talk in the chair lift but he kept bumping ahead and took the singles line so that we were never on the lift together. The only time we did share a lift he told me, “I can’t talk now. I have to plan my next run and that requires visualization.”

He didn’t speak or move during the whole ride up.

Once we were skiing, however, he was more talkative.

“Tell me about your foundation and mesothelioma research,” I said.

“I don’t know too much about it. It’s really complicated.” He said.

“But the foundation is for mesothelioma research. It receives money for it.” I said.

“Yes, but as I say it’s complicated. I don’t understand most of it. It’s about genes and chromosomes, and carcinogens. Can you imagine understanding all that? I would say it’s impossible.” He insisted.

“But you’re the head of the foundation and lab! You must know a little about curing it, at least the most promising approaches, ” I said.

“First, the only approach that works right now is to see a lawyer. That gets them a few million which a cure would never get them. Second, for me to come up with a cure takes as much visualization as skiing, so that’s why I’m here. I visualize cures and I’m making some progress.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“A pill. A simple pill that would wipe it out.” He said.

“What’s in the pill?” I asked.

“I really don’t know. They didn’t have mesothelioma in medical school when I attended, so you see it’s difficult for me. It will take much more visualization.” He explained.

“So you bought this five hundred acres in Aspen so you could visualize or ski?” I asked.

“We’re all different but I visualize best skiing, so it was a good investment. Understand?” , he swerved and hit a tree squarely. He stood up and shook himself off and continued skiing without missing a beat.

“Does that happen often,” I asked.

“Oh yes, almost everyday.” He started to laugh. “Do you know that it’s always the same tree?” He asked.

“That’s quite something. I think I understand why they give so much money to you to cure mesothelioma.” I said.

“Really? That’s something I’ve never understood.” He said.

“It takes visualization,” I said, visualizing an incompetent doctor ski into the same tree day after day.

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By MARQUEL: To Traub or not to Traub, Silver forgot to  Ponder