Many of our patients have wondered why they can’t get their flu
vaccine this year, and what they can do about it.
Chiron, a major manufacturer of flu vaccine, will not be
distributing any influenza vaccine this flu season. It was to make
46-48 million doses vaccine for the United States (about half our
country’s supply).
Dear Editor,
Many of our patients have wondered why they can’t get their flu vaccine this year, and what they can do about it.
Chiron, a major manufacturer of flu vaccine, will not be distributing any influenza vaccine this flu season. It was to make 46-48 million doses vaccine for the United States (about half our country’s supply).
Recently, British health officials stopped Chiron (a British company) from distributing and making the vaccine when inspectors found unsanitary conditions in the labs.
Why is our vaccine made in the UK and not the US? The major pharmaceutical companies in the US provided almost 90 percent of the nation’s flu vaccine at one time – at a very marginal profit.
But in the late 80’s a man from North Carolina who had received the vaccine got the flu. The strain he caught was one of the strains in that year’s vaccine made by a US company. What did he do? He sued and he won. He was awarded almost $5 million!
After that pharmaceutical company lost its appeal, most US pharmaceutical companies stopped making the vaccine. The liability out- weighed the profit margin. Since UK and Canadian laws prohibit such frivolous law suits, UK and Canadian companies could afford to sell the vaccine in the US. Recently, the US passed a law indemnifying other type vaccine producers against losses from such lawsuits, just to keep them from closing.
By the way, the lawyer that represented the man in that flu shot law-suit was an ambitious, handsome young attorney by the name of John Edwards, the junior Senator from North Carolina.
What to do if there is no vaccine? Current research recommends these top two preventions and two immune boosters:
n Be safer by avoiding closed or overly busy public areas
n Wash well before eating, touching your face or other body parts
n Dress appropriately and take mid-day fresh-air walks
n Build friendships and give volunteer service
If you get the flu, research tells us echinacea won’t speed your recovery, but elderberry juice and old-fashioned chicken soup can.
Dr. Darick Nordstrom, Hollister
