Roche halts US bird flu drug supplies

[cynatnite]

ZURICH (Reuters) - Drug maker Roche halted supplies of its antiviral drug to the United States to head off hoarding by consumers fearing bird flu, as another firm, and Vietnam, said they were preparing to manufacture their own treatments.

snip:
Roche Holding AG said it had halted deliveries of Tamiflu to the United States and Canada until the start of the flu season. Media coverage of the spread of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu had driven sales higher, the company said.

"This resulted in increased demand for Tamiflu in part from individuals who are doing private stockpiling and at the moment there is no influenza circulating and the threat of a pandemic has not (materialized)," a spokeswoman said.

"Our priority is to ensure that Tamiflu is available for seasonal use and to fulfil government orders," she added.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051027/ts_nm/birdflu_wrap_dc_30

[datadiva]

1. Isn't this the company

that Rumsfeld holds stock in? Correct me if I'm wrong.

[endarkenment]

2. Bird Flu Terra!

Also - it seems that the government induced Bird Flu Terra has squeezed the supply of regular flu shots. The company I work at just got word that their supply of vaccine is unavailable 'till next month.

asshats. fear mongers. vile shitheads.

[CoffeeCat]

3. Great. (sarcasm)

This will make it impossible for anyone to get Tamiflu--if they wanted to have it on hand, should an outbreak happen.

I have one 5-day dose, and was planning to take my kids in to get 10-day doses for them.

I know many believe fear of bird flu is irrational. However, some of us don't, and want to protect our families, in case. This drug should be available to anyone who would chose to take these preventative measures.

[chelsea0011]

4. hoarding......blame the masses. And all they are trying to do is

protect themselves. How about blaming the pharmacutical companies for not wanting to make vaccines here because of fear or lawsuits.

[endarkenment]

6. 'fear of lawsuits'

is republican spin. The reason nobody much wants to make vaccines is that by definition they have to be cheap. There is not as much monoey in vaccines as their is in manufacuring patented high price pills - so that is where they put their resources.

The freemarket fundies have to lie about this as it is an example of market failure, which of course they insist cannot, by first principles, exist.

[cynatnite]

5. The problem with hoarding is...

that those who might need it later on won't because healthy people getting the drug when they didn't need it thus causing a shortage.

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. Those who might need it later on?

You make it sound like it's going to be distributed first sick, first served basis. Not likely. The rich will be taken care of, the poor will be required to fend for themselves.

[cynatnite]

8. Because it will be...

I've worked in the medical field...hospitals, clinics and emergency rooms. Medical professionals will make sure the drug goes to who NEEDS it. Also, keep in mind this drug has been on the market a while. It was approved by the FDA back in '99 and has been used to treat flu before the avian flu got in the news.

The shipments didn't just stop to the US, but also to Canada.

Also, this drug offers a false sense of security:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051025/tamiflu_stockpile_051026/20051026?hub=Health

He warned, however, against developing a "false sense of security," saying communication on avian flu spread needs to be "candid, constant and balanced."

"You know, the pandemic may come, we don't know when or where or if it will start. It may not start for the next 50 years. That would be absolutely wonderful. But in the meantime, we have to prepare."

*******

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1479083.htm

A flu expert says stockpiling anti-viral drugs and speeding up vaccine production are measures that give a false sense of security and will do little to counter a bird flu pandemic.

Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert who has been studying the risk of pandemic flu for decades, says governments should be preparing to cope with the pandemic instead of relying entirely on the hope of using vaccines and drugs to control it.

He says if the H5N1 avian flu begins to easily infect humans, it will move too quickly for drugs and vaccines to be of much use.

*********

Another few facts about Tamiflu:

* Tamiflu and Relenza do not "cure" a flu infection but if taken when a person knows he or she has been exposed to flu, they can prevent illness from developing. No one knows how effective either drug will be against H5N1 although laboratory tests suggest that if taken in higher doses, Tamiflu should have some effect.

* Tamiflu is used frequently in Japan and in the last flu season some 6 million people were treated with the drug. Even with this usage, Roche says resistance appeared very infrequently.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L27732169.htm

The lack of knowledge about this drug and the bird flu on DU always amazes me. Healthy people hoarding drugs that denies those who do need it is wrong, IMO.