PING...
Posted on 10/25/2004 6:25:58 AM PDT by OESY
...Neither Kerry nor running-mate John Edwards is being truthful with the American people about this issue. If they were, they'd have to look to their major allies — the tort-lawyer lobby — as a major source of the problem.
Back in the 1960s, 26 companies made vaccines in the United States; today, only four do — and none makes flu vaccines. The two sources for flu shots are firms in Britain and France.
What changed?
As The Weekly Standard reported last week, it was a new legal concept called "liability without fault" that began emerging four decades ago. This held companies liable for huge damages even in cases where no negligence had been proven.
Moreover, vaccines became a low-profit business after the federal government began purchasing the doses and distributing them to doctors — instead of the companies selling the vaccines directly to physicians.
Combine low-to-nonexistent profits with a growing risk of sky-high jury verdicts, thanks to exactly the sort of litigation lotto encouraged by voracious tort lawyers (like John Edwards), and you can understand why pharmaceutical companies feel they're better off staying away from vaccines.
Indeed, as Dr. Paul Offit, head of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, writes: "Vaccines became one of the first medical products to be eliminated by lawsuits."
Congress tried to address fears of a potential shortage with President Bush's Health Act, which would have reduced liability for flu-vaccine manufacturers. It passed the House, but not the Senate. John Edwards voted no — John Kerry didn't even bother showing up for the vote....
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Bush campaign is falling asleep on this.
Personally, I'm not a flu shot nut, never had one, and don't intend on getting one (atleast until I'm in my 60s).
But there are alot of people angry out there about flu shots and Bush/Rove have let Kerry set the table on the issue so far.
It's time to start hammering back hard on how scumbags like Edwards is the REAL reason there is a vaccine shortage.
PING...
Heard a report this morning on ABC that groups of Americans are going over to Canada on a ferry to get flu shots. One old guy was from Texas. What kind of nut would go to Canada for a flu shot? He must have been going there anyway and just decided to get a flu shot. Surely there would be somewhere in the U.S. between Dallas and Canada where he could have gotten a flu shot. The whole country isn't dry of flu vaccine.
I heard on one show, a Christian one, that the hype about the flu shot is just that, hype. It's not supposed to be an epidemic year and they're just getting people shook up for nothing. As ill as I've been, I refuse the shots because too many people I know who are close to me and have received them GOT THE FLU! Thanks but no thanks. I know they will be pressuring me to do it because of the dialysis but I keep praying that no weapon formed against me will prosper and that no plague will come nigh my dwelling. Seems to have worked in the past few years.
"Heard a report this morning on ABC that groups of Americans are going over to Canada on a ferry to get flu shots. One old guy was from Texas. What kind of nut would go to Canada for a flu shot? He must have been going there anyway and just decided to get a flu shot. Surely there would be somewhere in the U.S. between Dallas and Canada where he could have gotten a flu shot. The whole country isn't dry of flu vaccine."
I want to know who is responsible if this guy gets a bad shot and dies?
Kerry of course blames the President for the flu shot problem. Kerry claims he would "stockpile" massive doses of flu vacine. Another Kerry lie. The flu dose strain changes year to year. Scientists have to basically guess at what type flu strain is going to emerge each year. So stockpiling is useless because next year's strain won't be the same as this years.
bump.
I'm one of those high risk people who are supposed to get a flu shot. I have a compromised immune system and I can't fight anything off if I get sick. I'm not angry about not getting a shot though, stuff happens, and we just have to deal with it. If there is another round of shots available, I'll get one then. I'll stay away from sick people as much as possible until that time.
This is a common misconception among people. The "flu vaccine" is not intended to protect against the stomach flu. The stomach flu that adults get each year is a relatively mild virus and symptoms usually are nausea, fever,aches, and diarrhea. The stomach flu is caused by vriuses unrelated to influenza. The flu vaccine protects against influenza. Influenza can be a serious disease involving the respiratory system. Symptoms include cough, fever, runny nose, headache, and myalgia. Pneumonia can often develop. Basically, imagine a cold about 100x over. Influenza also worsens any cardiopulmonary conditions. Hospitalization occurs for about 200K people a year and about 36K die each year. If you have a weakened immune system, count yourself lucky that you have not gotten influenze.
I wish we could see some real progress on tort reform. So far Bush has not delivered.
I heard a report that the company that makes the spray mist for small children only made 1 million doses this year. Last year they made 4 million doses and had 3 million left over which had to be thrown away.
Amen! I heard that the controls that our government put on these shots limited the price to $7 a dose (perhaps someone can verify the number). At the same time, the company is still on the hook for millions of dollars of potential liability per dose, c/o Edwards and his ambulance-chasing buddies.
Personally, I'm not a flu shot nut, never had one, and don't intend on getting one (atleast until I'm in my 60s).
Me either...ya gotta give the immune system a workout every once in a while! Last flu shot I had was the Swine flu shots they forced on us in elementary school ~24-25 years ago.
Worry not. John Edwards will get himself licensed to practice in Canada and he will find out.
After all, for him, it's not a health issue, it's a money issue.
I heard a statistic from the mouth of the head of the Pasteur Institute (yes, I know a Frenchman, but still highly reputable) who said that only 2.5% of the entire market pharmaceutical market are vaccines. Correspondingly only around that percentage gets spent on R&D.
Consdering the extremely high cost-benefit of vaccines for society, this is a real problem with the market and a place where government intervention is called for.
By comparison, Viagra makes up 1.25% of the total pharmaceutical market.
Methinks our priorities are a bit skewed.
I refuse to take anything when I get sick.. No cough drops, no cold medicine, nothing! I hardly EVER get sick, and when I do, it doesn't last very long (except when I take meds)
The only thing I will ever take is aspirin when I have a headache, and Ibuprofen when my temperature is running high.
Then start a drug company (or buy shares in one with priorities you agree with).
Locally here in PA, where there media was at a long flu shot line, an interview with a county official revealed that last year they threw out thousands of flu vaccines for lack of interest!
Why all of the sudden is there interest? I guess some of it is mass hysteria, but don't discount the DNC/MoveOn.org angle.
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