Will Rumsfeld profit from Bird flu hoax?

[MellowOne]

I received the following in email. So maybe it's a hoax but thought I would post anyway, may be of interest to someone.

By Dr. Mercola

Finally, the pieces of the puzzle start to add up. Not long ago, President Bush sought to instill panic in this country by telling us a minimum of 200,000 people will die from the avian flu pandemic, but it could be as bad as 2 million deaths in this country alone.

This hoax is then used to justify the immediate purchase of 80 million doses of Tamiflu, a worthless drug that in no way shape or form treats the avian flu, but only decreases the amount of days one is sick and can actually contribute to the virus having more lethal mutations.

So the U.S. placed an order for 20 million doses of this worthless drug at a price of $100 per dose. That comes to a staggering $2 billion.

We are being told that Roche manufactures Tamiflu and, in a recent New York Times article, they were battling whether or not they would allow generic drug companies to help increase their production.

But if you dig further you will find that a drug was actually developed by a company called Gilead that 10 years ago gave Roche the exclusive rights to market and sell Tamiflu.

Ahh, The Plot Thickens...

If you read the link below from Gilead, you'll discover Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was made the chairman of Gilead in 1997.

Since Rumsfeld holds major portions of stock in Gilead, he will handsomely profit from the scare tactics of the government that is being used to justify the purchase of $2 billion of Tamiflu.

For more on the nonsense of the avian flu hoax, you'll want to review today's other post on the subject.


Gilead Sciences Inc.


(from: http://www.mercola.com/2005/oct/25/rumsfeld_to_profit_from_avian_flu_hoax.htm)

[LiberalEsto]

1. Veeeery interesting indeed

Don't suppose he's flying around in that Doomsday plane sprinklin' little bits of birdflu virus whereever he goes?

[SidDithers]

2. "Hoax" migh be an appropriate description...

if Bush were the only one warning about the bird flu. The fact that governments around the world, the UN and the WHO are all concerned and are closely monitoring the appearances of the H5N1 virus kinda shoots a hole in the conspiracy theory angle.

Yes, Bush may be exploiting avian flu for his own political reasons (wow, when has he ever done something like that before), but that doesn't mean that there shouldn't be a real concern over this issue.

Sid

[Loonman]

3. Not a hoax

Bush may be trying to leverage some kind of advantage, but to say Avian flu is a hoax is just wacko tinfoil hat stuff.

[Canuckistanian]

4. Only if it ISN'T a hoax anymore

And this "hoax" wasn't started by Bushco, he just jumped on the bandwagon.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

5. Gee, an alternative medicine site.

No wonder it says Tamiflu is worthless.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. Calling Bird flu a hoax kills people: It lulls them into complacency.

It is not a pandemic yet and may not become one. Keep an eye on it and watch for developments. There will be time to prepare. 90 nations do not call Bird Flu a hoax.

Stop it, please.

[RiDuvessa]

7. Not to mention

that this virus first showed up in 1997, and scientists have been discussing this issue for some time. The reason that it's hitting the MSM now is because the flu is spreading to Europe.

[donco6]

8. I disagree that Tamiflu is worthless against avian flu.

In general, people don't die from the flu. They die from pneumonia or other complications due to a system weakened by the flu's impact. If Tamiflu can alleviate or mitigate some of those symptoms, it can allow the body time to produce the antibodies that fight the virus.

Whether Rumsfeld will profit is another matter - one worth exploring. But I wouldn't completely discredit Tamiflu.

[HereSince1628]

9. Didn't we do a thread just like this yesterday?

[beam me up scottie]

10. We've done several of them.

But obviously Mercola has been busy trying to boost his snake oil sales.

[BurtWorm]

12. Why are there so many marks on the left?

:eyes: You'd like to think people are brighter over on this side of the divide.

[beam me up scottie]

13. Critical thinking's not in style.

Not titillating enough.

[BurtWorm]

11. It's not a hoax. It's a warning.

Tom Harkin is trying to get legislation passed that would enable the government to prepare for any killer flu that's out there. In such situations, vaccinations are much more urgent than anti-virals.

[gkhouston]

14. actually, both are needed

it takes time to manufacture vaccine in response to a new threat and antivirals can help bridge that gap. We don't have enough of either right now. We also don't have enough hospital beds. I'm not sure if there's anything we do have enough of. :cry: