When President George W. Bush spoke of importing Canadian flu vaccine during Wednesday's election debate, many in the U.S. public health community were struck by the irony of an administration that slams the door on cheaper Canadian drugs, but looks north for help with an embarrassing vaccine shortage.
"It seemed ironic to many of us who were watching that the president had kind of disparaged the importation of Canadian (prescription) drugs but seemed to be interested in exploring the possibility of importing Canadian vaccine," Dr. William Schaffner, a member of the U.S. advisory committee on immunization practices, said in an interview Thursday. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1097808091725_93217291?s_name=&no_ads=How terrible. I want Bush to say "I actually was against importing Canadian medicine before I was for it." In a sense, he did.