Bush crew blows it again GREELEY

[jbfam4]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/greeley/cst-edt-greel22.html
Bush crew blows it again
October 22, 2004
BY ANDREW GREELEY

The sad state of American health care is illustrated by the influenza shot mess. It also illustrates the disinterest of the Bush administration in the health problems of ordinary people. The deaths of almost 3,000 people in the World Trade Center attack was a tragedy. Many more people, elderly and young, are likely to die because the government bungled the manufacture of flu vaccine. The failure of the administration to be ready for this crisis is analogous to its failure to prepare for the attack. It is inconceivable that the Health and Human Services Department relied on only two production facilities -- one in England -- to provide the vaccine.

It is also inconceivable that the British government -- our noble ''coalition'' partner -- did not alert the American government to the problem several months ago. Finally, it is inconceivable that Health and Human Services knew about the problem a year ago and did nothing to prepare for it.


A health service that cannot deal with the flu vaccine shortage is certainly not likely to know what to do when the pandemic comes.

The flu mess is an excellent reason to turn the present set of rascals out of office. The president has been too busy spending money in Iraq and giving money back to rich people to declare a national emergency because of the vaccine shortage. Naturally, he couldn't do that during an election campaign, especially when health care is a major issue.

But in a comment even more fatuous than usual, Bush promises that he himself won't have a flu shot. That solves the problem.

[Serial Mom]

1. HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson

is a DORK! How he got that job in unknown to me. He is almost as bad as * when it comes to spitting out a sentence!

When the West Nile virus was extensive I think 2 summers ago, he said at one point that nobody had contracted "en-ceph-a-lop-a-lus"!?!?!?!? Sesame Street?


I can't understand why so many in the state liked this man!



We need more like my sig line ...

[madrchsod]

3. he also did nothing about the

deer wasting disease that infected the deer herds in southern wisconsin and northern illinois. he was protecting the game hunting club owners from the state investigation into their private herds of hoofed game.now no one really knows how widespread this disease has spread and if it is under control. even more scary is that they are not sure if the ground where the deer died is also contaminated...don`t you feel safe in this guys hands?????

[LuminousX]

2. Project Bioshield - aka Bring Out Your Dead

Remember this? Yeah, I know, it wasn't meant to protect us against flu, but it clearly indicates to me that if one of the things the administration hasn't done is line up alternative vaccine producing facilities, then the administration has failed. I don't care what the vaccine is for, I only care that if suddenly typhoid or TB ravages a community, the government can respond in a timely and appropriate manner.

Let's face it, if you want to 'terrorize' a city through biological warfare, you don't use an agent that can be considered an attack that would warrant a response, you would use a disease that could occur naturally and you would release it in neighborhoods that lacked adequate medical services so the disease could fester. Typhoid, TB, measels, various types of poxes... left to fester until reaching epidemic status. And Project Bioshield ends up sitting on enough anthrax vaccine to save the world but not enough antibiotics to save a city.

[rog]

4. Chiron press release dated Oct. 5 says FDA informed in Aug.

"It is also inconceivable that the British government -- our noble "coalition" partner -- did not alert the American government to the problem several months ago."

According to this press release from Chiron, they found out about this in AUGUST and communicated the problem to the FDA. The FDA decided to gamble on Chiron's word that they could correct the problem in time.

http://chiron.com/investors/pressreleases/press_release100504.pdf

On page 2:

"In August, Chiron announced a delay in providing Fluvirin for the 2004-2005 influenza season. Chiron has communicated regularly with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has regulatory oversight for vaccines marketed in the United States, and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ... Chiron has informed the FDA, CDC and the UK Department of Health of the current situation."

From an article in Medical News Today:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=15096

Last August UK officials, with the same information the US officials had, decided something had to be done in case the Chiron supplies, 14% of UK supplies, went belly up. The US officials decided to believe Chiron and gamble 48% of their supplies on an assurance that everything would turn out fine despite some worrying set backs.

The American Health Dept saw no reason last August to do anything, says their spokesman Tony Jewell. Americans hear him and ask, so why did the British have a reason, you both worked on the same information, didn't you?

.rog.

[Skittles]

5. I live in America and I cannot get a flu shot

it is insane.

[Porcupine]

6. But the 'Merican flue shot you can't get.....

is the best unavailable flu shot in the world!!!! Ask any conservative about how all the Canadians are crosssing the border to not get flu shots here even though they are available at low or no cost there.