Vaccine makers "immune" from lawsuits

[bigalpha]

hah, that's wishful thinking.

Influenza vaccines, for example, must be administered every year due to the high rate of mutation in the virus' DNA.

How many different vaccines were administered for Polio?

 

[87manche]

I think we're just arguing semantics at this point.

No, I don't think it's just semantics.

Corporations are in place to make money, it's likely that the "informal" fund was put in place to appease the regulators, now that the supreme court has given them complete immunity, why pay for the damages? It's not a good fiscal decision, and as much as we'd all like to believe that they'd continue to do it just to be good corporate citizens we all know it's solely about the bottom line.

Alos, don't think that I'm for gigantic sums of monies. I feel that the medical malpractice lawsuits in this country are outrageous, and contribute greatly to the cost of healthcare in this country. Practicing defensive medicine with 32 blood tests to rule out some obscure disease is costing us a fortune. THe malpractice insurance costs practices a fortune. My cousin is an ER doctor, he covers a hospital ER with a few other doctors, he told me a few years back that the malpractice insurance is over a million dollars a year. That's a million dollars right off the top.

Tort reform needs to happen, but giving carte blanche immunity to these manufacturers is a bad idea, and I feel it will lead to sloppier vaccines. Afterall, why spend trillions testing it when you can't be sued if it kills 1% of the people it's given too. It's just 1% right?

 

[old_man]

It took 50 years to eradicate polio. Actually, they aren't 100% sure it is gone. The vaccine makers practically gave away the vaccine to third world countries. What other business would spend its own money to put itself out of business?

People are always bitching about the big drug companies. Well I for one would be dead multiple times over if it weren't for the drugs developed by these "evil" companies.

I've seen the good and bad side of the drug industry but would hate to do without them.

 

[urban yan]

Yes, but others like polio, whooping cough and measles can be eradicated like small pox was.

Labs in the US and Russia retained some smallpox stocks.

"Particularly risky experiments are underway to create a monkey model of human smallpox infection. The US has also proposed genetic engineering experiments with the virus "
Source: http://www.bmj.com/content/334/7597/774.full

Goodtimes.

 

[RichP]

Labs in the US and Russia retained some smallpox stocks.

"Particularly risky experiments are underway to create a monkey model of human smallpox infection. The US has also proposed genetic engineering experiments with the virus "
Source: http://www.bmj.com/content/334/7597/774.full

Goodtimes.

Depends, who else has it and is not talking ? That we have stocks and that they are stored safely is good for me provided our non existant bio weapons research labs are not playing games.

 

[Ralph]

Polio has not been eradicated. One of the Gate's Foundation projects is eradicate polio world wide.

Here is some info on smallpox from the World Health Organization's website.

Through the success of the global eradication campaign, smallpox was finally pushed back to the horn of Africa and then to a single last natural case, which occurred in Somalia in 1977. A fatal laboratory-acquired case occurred in the United Kingdom in 1978. The global eradication of smallpox was certified, based on intense verification activities in countries, by a commission of eminent scientists in December 1979 and subsequently endorsed by the World Health Assembly in 1980.

Here's a link to a news article from 2002 concerning the remaining stocks of smallpox virus.

http://www.rense.com/general25/smp.htm

 

[WB9YZU]

It took 50 years to eradicate polio.

... In the US.

Other countries fight on http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/health/21glob.html

Back to original Topic.
In the name of the common good we allow vaccine companies a certain amount of leeway. If we didn't, no-one would develop drugs to give to healthy people so they would not catch a horrible disease.

As for compensating "Victims" of vaccine therapy, well, unless you can find the drug company acted criminally and without disclosure of the possible side affects of taking their vaccine, I don't see how they have a leg to stand on. That is why the advertisements for drugs on the TV have the last 2 minutes devoted to all the bad things that "might" happen if you use their drug.

 

[bigalpha]

I stumbled upon this tonight and it's totally fitting to this discussion.
http://www.wimp.com/vaccineslives/

 

[Ralph]

That put things so simple even a liberal could understand it. (joke)

 

[87manche]

As for compensating "Victims" of vaccine therapy, well, unless you can find the drug company acted criminally and without disclosure of the possible side affects of taking their vaccine, I don't see how they have a leg to stand on. That is why the advertisements for drugs on the TV have the last 2 minutes devoted to all the bad things that "might" happen if you use their drug.

and now that they have been given complete immunity from damages you don't think that the possibility of some janky things might happen for the sake of the bottom line?

If we gave burglars immunity do you think they would decrease the burgaling?

This debate is not about whether or not the pharmecutical industry is evil or not, it's about the fact that the Supreme Court just gave them the green light to no consequences for a bad product in the future.

My wife works in an animal testing facility that is primarily in the pharmaceutical experimental testing business. I know what the process is. Removing the threat of penalty for a shitty product will decrease the quality of the product in the long term. It might not be immediate, but it will happen as the beancounters realize that taking shortcuts will lead to more profit, without penalty.

Couple that with mandated vaccinations and now you have a significant problem in the coming future.

Again, it's not that I'm for massive compensation, but the threat of lawsuits and legal action served a purpose.

 

[urban yan]

1) - They haven't been given complete immunity; we already discussed that point.

2) - Vaccines aren't as profitable as other drugs. If you allow people to sue these companies disproportionately than they'll simply cease producing vaccines as they move onto something else. I hate giving corporations so much free reign over anything, but in this case, I think it's a necessary evil.

 

[GSequoia]

In Europe there is a HUGE fad going around where parents are not getting their kids vaccinated and because of this sicknesses that have been almost wiped off the face of the earth are starting to make a comeback in schools there.

Exactly. Also a lot of babies who are pre-vaccination age are dying again from diseases we beat. Thanks a lot a**holes, you're proven fraud of a link to autism has killed children who otherwise may be alive and well today.