U.S. fosters vaccine insecurity

How is it that amid the incessant claims of unprecedented "homeland security," the Bush administration has put our nation's health, again, at unnecessary risk?

When you think back to the aftermath of 9/11, there is an eerie familiarity. If efforts to develop an anthrax vaccine and stockpile smallpox inoculations for emergency staff were the dress rehearsal for our readiness to defend against a biological-weapons threat, then the flu-vaccine shortage is an embarrassing opening-night performance.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's announcement of the shortage underscored the administration's failure to learn from mistakes and put into place effective policy for even the most routine health-care delivery. This current misstep occurred despite a foreseeable need and hardly inspires confidence that the Department of Health and Human Services would be any more effective in responding to a public-health emergency of far greater magnitude.

On Oct. 5, the British license for Chiron, a California pharmaceutical company that was to supply nearly half the U.S. flu vaccine from its plant in England, was suspended for three months because its product had become contaminated. Contamination during the making of the flu vaccine is known to occur. The United States had placed orders with only one other manufacturer. There had been no further investigation into additional suppliers. This is unhealthy business practice at the very least and irresponsible governance at its very worst.

A lack of foresight by the administration in ensuring an adequate supply of the nation's flu vaccine long precedes the Chiron suspension. Last week, the Washington Post reported that the General Accounting Office had cautioned the administration as early as 2001 of "a dwindling number of manufacturers" of flu vaccine. The GAO warned that problems at one or the two of the three remaining vaccine makers could "significantly impact overall vaccine availability."

The administration's shortsighted planning has left our most vulnerable populations - those who are HIV-positive, the poor, the elderly, the uninsured - at the mercy of price-gouging pharmaceutical suppliers. The Inquirer reported Friday that area hospitals had been quoted prices of $900 for a 10-dose vile previously sold for $60. Also reported was the alleged theft of 780 doses from a Colorado pediatric clinic.