National crisis: Immunization from the FDA

Before I begin, everyone should read this paper. I found it as I was looking into this topic.

So as everyone knows, we have a flu vaccine shortage upon us. All the news claim that the fault is because of suppliers, such as Chiron, shutting down, which has strained the supply. Because of the shortage, some companies are 'price gouging' their consumers for up to 10 times the cost of the vaccine. Because of this, people are demanding the government become involved to stop the price gouging and distribute the vaccine to those at highest risk.

Here is a news article released at the end of last year.

Nancy Cox, chief of the influenza branch at the CDC, told the group that manufacturers had been unable to grow the Fujian strain in chicken eggs -- the only FDA-approved method of reproducing the virus for use in vaccines.

Doesn't anyone see the source of the problem of this shortage? Its our own FDA and government intervention in the vaccination industry. The FDA has forced all kinds of regulations on the manufacturing of vaccinations, where the only choice for a business is comply or leave the industry. They must wait until the FDA tells them what viral strains must be included in the vaccinations, which forces companies to wait until the FDA decides upon the recipe before beginning the six to eight month production of the vaccine. The FDA decides what methods are 'safe' enough that companies can use to produce the vaccinations. The FDA mandates what equipment a manufacturer must use to produce the vaccine.

So with all these regulations companies must comply with in order to produce a vaccine, their costs obviously increase. If their costs increase, they must charge more to make any sort of profit. But when vaccination prices increase, the consumers and government cry 'price gouging...'

“Shame on the people who are price-gouging,” said Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “There’s no room for this kind of behavior in an environment where we need to pull together as a country to protect our vulnerable populations.”

Federal prosecutors could use a variety of fraud, conspiracy and other charges to pursue individuals or companies thought to be engaging in price-gouging. Some states are taking their own action.

...and force the companies to sell the vaccine at a fixed cost.

Is it any surprise that we can count influenza vaccination suppliers on one hand? First our government forces higher production costs upon the supplier and then forces them to sell the vaccine at an unprofitable cost. And then the government acts surprised that no one wants to produce flu vaccines.

The remaining firm, Aventis Pasteur, can’t make more vaccine in time for the flu season and it has only about 55.4 million doses available for this season, simply not enough to go around. The government is negotiating with other vaccine makers in hopes of shaking loose a bit more.

The government is asking companies to invest in a market by the same government that makes the market unprofitable! The irony is laughable.

How can people want national health care? It absolutely boggles my mind. This flu vaccine situation is a direct consequence of what happens when the government butts its evil head into an industry. The FDA, other government regulations, and price fixing is destroying our health industry! Kerry's plan for national health care actually scares me. I worry about the future of our medical industry if he were elected. Our own government that is supposed to be looking out for us has their tight grips upon the throat of this industry. Do we want those hands strangling the rest of the medical industry? The paper linked above states the situation simply

If FDA regulations continue to drive more and more companies out of the vaccine business, scarcities will remain a threat.

Let the free market control the industry. Drug companies will do best when they are allowed to make money. Vaccination supplies will be plentiful and at low costs if ridiculous regulations aren't forced upon them. And best of all, the consumer will decide which company produces the best flu vaccine.

UPDATE: Chicken soup!