Posted on 11/26/2004 8:44:41 AM PST by LurkedLongEnough
SOMERS POINT, N.J. -- Federal agents conducted a raid Monday on a Somers Point home after a cache of flu vaccine was offered for sale to a South Jersey hospital.
The vaccine came into the United States without clearance from the Food and Drug Administration. The investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security executed the raid on the house.
Authorities said that, so far, nobody has been arrested, but the investigation is still ongoing into what one source called an alleged attempt to cash in on the country's flu shot crisis.
"They were coming out with a lot of boxes and then they loaded the cars and off they went," said Bruce Somers, a neighbor about the raid.
The raid took people on Bala Drive by surprise. The federal agents executed a search warrant one the house as part of a criminal probe of smuggling of non-FDA-approved flu shots into the United States.
"They were very nice, very quiet. No problem. All the sudden, all hell broke loose last night," Somers said.
Officials at Shore Memorial Hospital became suspicious and contacted federal and local authorities after a man claiming to represent a business entity came into the hospital a few weeks ago, offering to sell a flu vaccine.
"From the initial contacts, it lit us up like a Christmas tree," said Albert Gutierrez, president of Shore Memorial Hospital.
"To be approached in this manner was inconsistent with business practices across the country," Gutierrez said.
Federal authorities said that around 8,000 doses of a French-made vaccine called Vaccigrip were intercepted and seized as it entered the United States at JFK airport.
A source familiar with the investigation said the vaccine was shipped from France to Saudi Arabia and then to the United States.
The source said that the vaccine doses went a number of days without refrigeration. Administrators at the hospital said that could have caused an infection in anyone receiving the vaccine and jeopardized the public's health.
"Any attempt to cause a mass casualty or clinical outbreak in a region is despicable," Gutierrez said.
Authorities said that there is no cause for alarm because the vaccine was intercepted before it ever got into the hands of the medical community.
Black market flu vaccine--I'd rather take my chances with the flu. Who knows what's in this stuff?
From Saudi Arabia via France...yikes. Probably "enhanced" at both places.
I'd rather take my chances with the flu no matter where the vaccine was from!
Big surprise, FRANCE is involved in an illegal scheme! Whoda thunk!
This flu season is expected to be mild, and, given that the primary mode of transmission of influenza infection is via the hand-to-eye (or other mucus membrane) route, proper handwashing, foregoing of handshakes, using paper towels to open doors, and using one's own pen to sign credit card slips, etc. go a long way to decreasing the likelihood or transmission of the virus.
It also is a very good idea practice to use an alcohol-gel preparation frequently during the course of the day. I have gone over the CDC web site and have done my own online search of the medical literature and have noted that a gel product containing 62% alcohol generally is considered to most effective. The product should also contain a moisturizing lotion (and aloe vera, if possible) to eliminate drying of the skin.
Perhaps the best product available, IMO, is Purell, which comes in half-ounce or in larger-sized dispenser bottles. A "six-pack" of the half-ounce bottles (containing 2 bottles each of an assortment of three lotion bases) costs about $2.00 in most grocery or drug stores. An equally good product is offered by Johnson and Johnson, but its brand name escapes me at the moment. Some find its lotion to be superior to that found in Purell.
FYI/FWIW, I am a Ph.D. (1978) microbiologist who has completed post-doctoral training in infectious diseases, has conducted research in this and related fields, and am active in public health matters and am "current" in the medical literature.
I didn't receive a "flu shot" for the past two years without ill effects and certainly don't plan to do so at present. Stay well......
Interesting.
"Big surprise, France is involved in an illegal scheme !"
Get serious, man. France is no more involved in that scheme than the USA - since the buyers are American, surely the USA is involved, following your logic !
Maybe the govenor of IL would be interested in buying it
Hi tracer...
Thanks for the info. I'm certainly not in your league when it comes to knowledge. I remember hearing something that made sense to me, perhaps you can tell me what you think.
The mothers who seemed to be constantly sterilizing things to avoid their children coming into contact with germs had the sickest kids.
Those of us who made sure they were well fed (strong immune system) and just bathed and washed routinely seemed to have robust children.
I then heard that there was research out there that said when they come into contact with more germs, they become stronger at fighting them off. Conclusion...don't panic because your child eats the dirt. He's probably better off for it.
Made sense to me. What thinks you?
I have never received a flu shot either. Nor did I vaccinate my children. Never trusted it. Thank the Lord, my kids are fine.
The value of "sterilization" is largely related to a child's environment. If the child is raised around a lot of filth (e.g. animal feces, etc.), he may not fare well when his resistance is down. Breast-fed babies obtain maternal antibodies from colostrum and mother's milk, and such for centuries have tided over infants while they develop their own immune responsiveness to a variety of infectious agents.
BTW, exposing a child to another child that has "chicken pox" is not a good idea, in that the ill child may not have chicken poz after all but, instead, something more serious. Children, unbeknowst to their parents, often develop resistance to chicken pox and other infectious agents through contact with children with pre- and post-acute infections when numbers of infectious particles are too low to result in active infection but are at immunogenic levels...
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