CMA president warns Canadian doctors about giving flu shots to Americans

[Bluebear]

TORONTO (CP) - With a massive shortage of influenza vaccine in the United States, Americans living near the border may be contemplating a cross-border trip for a flu shot this fall.



But the president of the Canadian Medical Association urged Canadian doctors to remember their first duty this influenza season is to their own patients.

"The vaccine shortage problem . . . that they now have in the States or elsewhere in the world is not for us here to fix or sort out," Dr. Albert Schumacher said in an interview Friday.

Schumacher warned that, in particular, doctors on this side of the border shouldn't put vaccine purchased by provincial and territorial governments - the bulk of the vaccine available in Canada - into the arms of non-residents.

"The stuff that's sitting in my fridge isn't for them," Schumacher said flatly.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cpress/20041015/ca_pr_on_na/cross_border_flu_shots_2

[XanaDUer]

1. The whole world hates our guts now

and I can guess that Candians were not real happy to hear about their "dangerous" drugs out of Bush's stupid piehole the other day at the debate.

[Bluebear]

3. Tommy is continuing the masquerade

http://newsobserver.com/news/story/1733581p-8001016c.html

"The Food and Drug Administration is talking with two companies that sell flu vaccine in Canada and elsewhere and has found a few million unsold doses.

But that vaccine is not licensed for sale in the United States, so meeting FDA requirements in time for this flu season "is doubtful," Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said Thursday."

[Media_Lies_Daily]

2. I don't blame them a bit.

[Maple]

4. I can see his point

and he's just doing his job....but you can have mine all the same.

[Bluebear]

6. Maple I fault the US government here, not yours.

See my post above, he is pretending that your drugs are all suspect so we can't re-import them.

[ElectroPrincess]

5. No worries :P

Our illustrious Homeland Security Chief, Tom "Let me count the ways that I may SCARE you" Ridge declared that we can NOT purchase **ANY** flu vaccine from OH Canada. Period, end of story! :P

Why pray-tell? Tommy Boy retorted, "Because it's not licensed in the USA." You know <wink wink> safety concerns about our third world neighbors to the north.

Our Country's Executive Branch is in dire need of Adult Supervision.

[Lisa]

7. an interesting op-ed in the Globe and Mail this week ...

The author suggested that for all their protestations, the US administration may actually be using the importation of Canadian drugs (being done by particular states now) as a way to avoid giving all Americans access to reasonably-priced pharmaceuticals. And that Canada had to be careful not to enable this kind of attitude by the White House, if it means that Bush and Co. can wriggle out of their responsibilities. This pattern, of Bush "having it both ways" (blaming Canada while simultaneously relying on it) should not surprise any of us!

Re: drug safety, the provincial health care plans do bulk purchases to keep the price affordable, and also provide some extra protection for us, e.g. BC's Pharmacare agency. Pharmacare was wary of Vioxx and required that patients show they'd already tried other anti-imflammatories before making it available. The Ontario health care system, which the neo-cons had more time to chisel away at, did not impose restrictions on Vioxx. As a result, the Pharmacare "big government bureaucrats" are being praised for saving a number of lives.