Posted on 10/21/2004 7:53:20 AM PDT by aynrandy
There's an old joke: A girl asks her dad during the Cold War, "What will communism be like when perfected?"
Her dad answers: "Everyone will have what he needs."
"But what if there is a shortage of meat?" asks his daughter.
"Well," the father responds. "Then there will be a sign in the butcher shop saying, 'No one needs meat today."'
Well, the sign is out. No one needs the flu vaccine today.
And all those who advocate the further socializing of our health care system should take a serious look at the inadequate supply of flu vaccine in Colorado.
Severe regulations and restrictions on the free market are slowly guaranteeing longer waiting times for all pharmaceuticals, and in this case, it may have deadly results.
"The record is that the health care bureaucracy, which is made up of the Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid and the Veterans (Affairs Department) cannot even run a national flu vaccination effort," contends Conrad Meier, senior fellow at the Heartland Institute.
"How can we trust them with our health care?"
That's a good question. The potential consequences of this failure could be life-threatening for a few; one can only imagine what widespread failure government-run health care would bring.
Unfortunately, those in need of the vaccine now have an unobstructed view of the earliest failure of a socialist health care policy: rationing.
"We have to keep the issue in perspective," contends Arlene Miles, president and chief executive of the Colorado Health Care Association. "There's clearly a shortage of flu vaccine. We do need to prioritize who is going to be able to receive the vaccine when it becomes available."
There are various reasons American companies have stopped producing vaccines: litigation, huge spoilage of flu vaccine and the enormous amount of capital investment necessary to undertake the research and development needed to produce the vaccine.
Meier, however, says that the central problem is that "so many companies have been almost regulated out of existence, where it left only two manufacturers for the needle dosage and a third for the nasal mist."
Aventis Pasteur is now the only company approved to sell flu vaccine to the United States, after major contamination was found in the vaccine produced by Chiron Corp.
How can the United States be dependent on a single factory to provide all our flu vaccinations? Shouldn't it have been obvious to anyone running a national program that with only two supply sources, you're asking for trouble?
"If the FDA would look at this situation as a business - there are only two major companies making this stuff. What if one of them had a problem? Any CEO or a member of a board of directors would always be asking 'what if?' Government doesn't take that stance," Meier says.
And the largest purchaser of the vaccine is the government. It buys in bulk at abnormally low prices. The problem, says Meier, started back in 1994, when the Clinton administration placed price caps on children's vaccinations, creating unnatural prices, hurting pharmaceutical companies.
"It's happened over a long period of time," explains Meier. "Fifteen years ago, 20 companies manufactured flu vaccine or had the capability to produce them. In addition to price caps, they had to deal with an enormous number of lawsuits and regulations."
If the free market were in complete control of this - and the only issue involving federal oversight was safety - Meier believes companies would look at the market and ask: "What's the potential?" and "How much do we need?"
Right now, what we need is more flu vaccine and government out of medicine.
David Harsanyi's column appears Monday and Thursday. He can be reached at 303-820-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com .
Bravo
There is another risk in Socialized medicine, and it was
mentioned in the article posted. Colorado will have to "prioritize" the distribution of the vaccine. Think what that would mean if all health care were to be socialized. Certain well-connected people would find themselves at the top of the list for all health care, and the rest of us would not get the care we need.
I can only wonder if this is part of some sort of stategery by the Bush Team.
They are already using terms like rationing in criticizing the FinK's health scare plan.
I know this President is far too moral to actually think this way, but the timing of this vaccine shortage along with it being a perfect microcosm of gubmint care just makes me say "Hmmmmm..."
Ping
The sad part of the whole medical service issue is that NO ONE IN WASHINGTON will face THE REAL CAUSE OF HIGH MEDICAL COSTS....they pander to the entire medical cartel, paying their obscene prices without question, pander to the drug companies who are raping their customers blind --- AND THEIR "SOLUTION" IS TO TAKE MORE MONEY FROM THE PUBLIC AND GIVE IT TO THE MEDICAL INDUSTRY...rather than getting the medical industry back in line price/cost-wise.
I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS, THE COST OF MALPRACTICE INSURANCE IS A MAJOR JOKE BECAUSE OF AN OUT-OF-CONTROL JUDICIAL SYSTEM THAT S-U-P-P-O-R-T-S EXTORTIONATE AND FRIVOLOUS LAW SUITS AND SETTLEMENTS....
I remember back when there was no need for medical insurance, no HMOs etc, because the costs of medical care were reaasonable.
There is no need for socialized medicine, that is just a liberal control stroke, and all the government has to do is fix our system -- judicial and medical, bring it back under control and all can have medical care, and good care.
Preferential treatment for "the elite" is here already. Rationing for the rest of us.
Finally an honest look at the vaccine shortage. The choice Americans may face in health may very well be a high price or none at all. The left prefers the latter, since the free market will somehow get the blame, thanks to the MSM.
The same thing is happening to our fuel production operations and antifreeze producers. one little fire and our prices go through roof untill repairs are made. but no we cant build anymore of those nasty plants.
Aside from gubmint bureaucracy, this is the single biggest reason there is a vaccine shortage. The Clintoons changed the way liability law works in regard to vaccine makers. Instead of simple liability, meaning the company would be held liable for problems with the products they produce, the Clintoon change made the companies liable if someone had a negative reaction to their product even if there was nothing wrong with their product. Coupling this with price caps, drug makers by and large got out of the vaccine business and we are left to rely on foriegn sources for vaccine. Yet another spoke in the Clintoon legacy we've yet to live down........
This is EXACTLY what the Clintons had in mind.
On FOX this morning there was a discussion as to why theere was a vaccine shortage.
One person being interviewed said that the US used to have several vaccine makers but they ceased dut to law suits.
I kept waiting for someone to mention that the Breck Boy Edwards was a specilist in law suits. No one did.
What is a gubmint?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.