Millions of flu shots to be destroyed

[deadparrot]

Source: Associated Press

Millions of doses of flu vaccine will expire at midnight June 30, unsold during this year's mild flu season and written off as trash. Still perfectly good, and possibly useful for a few more years, the vaccine will wind up being destroyed. This annual ritual is supposed to ensure that Americans get the most up-to-date vaccine, but the leftovers — more than 10 million of a record 110 million doses produced — will be destroyed before a new supply is guaranteed.

An Associated Press examination of this long-standing practice raises questions about its consequences. For years, policymakers have talked about letting doctors keep unused vaccine until new doses are in hand, donating leftover supplies to poor countries, or pushing back the expiration date. Wasted vaccine means lost money for drug companies and one stopped making flu shots because of it — setting the stage for a flu shot shortage in 2004.

Having no vaccine in the summer deprives travelers of the chance to get a shot before they visit places where flu is in season. It also prevents summer vaccinations for children, who need two doses the first time around.

"All of those issues have come up in the past," but there is a strong reluctance to change policy, said Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University, a government vaccine adviser. "These ideas clearly have merit and at the very least ought to be discussed."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070320/ap_on_he_me/wasted_flu_shots

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. More...

Corporate Welfare. Or Mussolini-style Fascism. It's interchangeable.

[kestrel91316]

2. Nobody has any business using expired vaccines. If they did,

and the vaccine caused any harm, there would be no way to defend the liability case. It would be a slam-dunk.

Nobody's THAT dumb, I hope.

[John Q. Citizen]

3. On June 29th they are safe and effective. On July first they are a health risk?

[kestrel91316]

6. No. On July 1 they are a legal risk. They are also no longer under

manufacturer's implied warranty.

But I think you knew that.

[John Q. Citizen]

8. Yes, that's exactly the policy discussion the Dr. was calling for, about an arbitrary

date that wastes millions of dollars.

[madville]

4. Good, I would think it had a life expectancy

When I was in the military years ago I remember getting eight shots in one day in about 5 minutes. I would hope I wasn't getting anything past it's "best by" date. I'll still drink expired milk or eat expired sour cream if it is past it's expiration date but I don't want anything injected in me that "might" still be ok. The flu vaccine is a virus so I would think it does have some kind of lifespan.

[truthisfreedom]

5. The expiration date is arbitrary. It's selected because the drug companies want to sell new vaccine

every flu season. They know perfectly well that it isn't going to expire within a year of production. It's all about built-in obsolescence.

These drugs are a perfect fit for third-world assistance! They'd be used up within months, well before they would truly expire. MILLIONS AND MILLIONS could be helped. If the vaccines truly did expire, they would likely do nothing at all.

[sutz12]

7. Kind of an inflammatory headline....

10 million doses out of 110 million is less than 10% wastage. I don't think that is that bad.