H1N1 Virus: The Audacity Of Hype!

Rivalled only by "Global Warming", the "swine flu" has all the earmarks of a costly government debacle.

So far, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the H1N1 virus has killed 10,000 Americans, while all forms of influenza kill approximately 36,000 Americans annually!

Given these numbers, whose authenticity I have no reason to doubt, what's the big deal?  Let's put our sleuth hats on and FOLLOW THE MONEY!

It seems to me, I've heard something of a highly recommended vaccine.   And, like you, I'm sure Big Pharma's motives are completely humanitarian - in this case, Swiss-based Novartis.  As of November 19, 2009, more than 65 million doses of vaccine had been administered in over 16 countries.  Given a world population of nearly 7 billion, this means that 0.1% of the world has been vaccinated, thus making it obvious that the death toll has NOT been affected positively by the vaccine.

However, regardless of the triviality of the risk of death resulting from H1N1 itself, the COST of the vaccine is NOT!  New York City is a perfect example.  According to the New York Daily Times, protecting worried city dwellers from the virus - which did not claim nearly as many victims as feared -  newly released numbers showed an average cost of  $155 a shot.

The H1N1 panic peaked at the end of summer, when doomsday estimates put the possible death toll at 90,000 Americans.  Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a massive plan to vaccinate and educate the city.  Braced for a pandemic, the city spent $31 million on its swine flu campaign.

In most cities, the recipient pays little to nothing for the vaccine.  However, if the NYC example is extrapolated to the 65 million doses, the total cost  comes out to a "trivial" $10 billion!

The approval in the U.S. and Europe for Novartis' swine flu vaccine will help boost performance, with 90 to 120 million doses expected to be produced by the end of the year.  That is projected to increase fourth quarter net sales by $400 to $700 million.  Merry Christmas, Novartis!

To make matters worse, the cash cost is not the ONLY cost of the vaccine.  As it turns out, the "cure" itself is believed to be risky and even DEADLY.  According to a medical newsletter called "Mercola", the vaccine  contains cancerous cells from animals (http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/09/08/Another-Shocking-Warning-About-Swine-Flu-Vaccine.aspx).

In fact, the insert to the vaccine admits to a wide range of side effects (http://www.fluscam.com/Vaccine_Package_Inserts_files/Novartis_A-H1N1_2009_Monvalent_VaccinePackageInsert_BasedOn1980Approvalfor%20Fluvirin_UCM182242.pdf).

Sadly, this isn't the first "swine flu" fiasco.  A similar boondoggle occured in 1976 (http://www.examiner.com/x-6495-US-Intelligence-Examiner~y2009m7d10-CBS-60-Minutes-300-death-claims-from-1976-swine-flu-vaccine-only-one-death-from-flu).  In the earlier debacle, history shows the vaccine was more deadly than the flu itself!!!!

Still want the "guvment" running health care?

You know what to do if you have some comments.  TAKE ME ON!

Marko's Take