Dr. Weeks Comment: Much more predictable than surprising.
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November 06, 2009
DRUG COMPANIES
Polish PM slams drug companies over vaccine
The Polish prime minister said Poland wants certainty that A(H1N1) vaccines are – safe from the point of view of Polish patients.
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Friday slammed drug companies selling swine flu vaccines for allegedly refusing to take legal responsibility for any of their possible side effects.
– We know that the companies offering H1N1 vaccines don’t want to take responsibility for (the) side effects – Tusk told reporters Friday in Warsaw.
Poland has not yet signed a contract for delivery of the vaccine against the A(H1N1) virus and has yet to record its first swine flu-related death. Public health officials say 200 people have tested positive for the virus.
– Today we are dealing with huge pressure from pharmaceutical companies – he said.
– They expect the kind of terms which are probably not in line with Polish law and in which all the responsibility is put on national governments for any legal claims connected to any possible side effects – Tusk added.
Tusk also said his country would be more inclined to buy the A(H1N1) vaccine if the European Commission were to take legal responsibility for any side effects.
The Polish prime minister said Poland wants certainty that A(H1N1) vaccines are – safe from the point of view of Polish patients. –
– The zealousness of certain countries (in administering the vaccine) seems exaggerated and out of step with the real epidemic – he added.
More than 5,700 people have died worldwide since the swine flu pandemic was first discovered in April, with most deaths — 4,175 — reported in the Americas region, according to the most recent World Health Organisation data.
The huge investments governments made in swine flu pandemic planning have not been justified, an Ontario health official said Thursday. Dr Richard Schabas, Ontario’s former chief medical officer of health and now chief medical officer of health for Hastings and Prince Edward counties in eastern Ontario said: “It’s really not causing ”” and is not going to cause and nowhere has caused ”” significant levels of illness or death. But governments moved ahead regardless. They ramped up their response, spent a huge amount of money on vaccines and other things. I’m not sure the $1.5 billion includes the cost of new ventilators, the cost of Tamiflu stockpiles … the huge investment that’s been put into planning for what has ultimately turned out to be, from a pandemic perspective, a dud.” In another development, an EKOS poll conducted exclusively for CBC News suggests more than half of Canadians surveyed believe concerns over the risk of H1N1 a re exaggerated.
CBC News
Related Links:
* USA Boy Struck Down By Potentially Fatal Nerve Disease After Swine Flu Vaccine
JoNel Aleccia, MSNBC/The One Click Group
* UK Doctors Take Bribes To Push Swine Flu Vaccine On Patients
Lilian Anekwe, PULSE/The One Click Group
* Doctors, Healthcare Workers And Patients Refusing Swine Flu Vaccine In Britain
Nigel Praities, PULSE
* Poland Prime Minister Slams Drug Companies Over Swine Flu Vaccine