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We did indeed!  :thumbs

It's a bit pathetic that they want to distribute Tamiflu so as to appease popular opinion. I'd respect them so much more if they were straight with me. If they stocked up believing it was useful and now it isn't then that's fair enough. You may own several cars without using the airbag, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't have paid for one.
Hmm.

Did you get a sort of "tip of the iceberg" effect from this article, or is it just my jaded perspective?

Still no mention of why the UK [and USA] governments were so very enthusiastic about stock piling the drug in the first place.

Who has coaxed the massive purchasing effort and how much cold hard cash changed hands?

When did tamiflu get such a golden rep, when it had been languishing as a possibly-dangerous, not-very-effective, last ditch desperation treatment ever since it's arrival in the pharmacopeia?

[MidgeKitty, thanks for posting that URL. For quite awhile there, I felt like the kid in a modified version of "The Emperor's New Clothes" who shouts "But He's Naked!", but instead of agreeing, the onlookers take off their clothes as well...

Oh, and also, many hugs to Gran  :cuddle ]
Who has coaxed the massive purchasing effort and how much cold hard cash changed hands?


Who indeed.

Whoever it is deserves a massive bonus for exceptional salesman skills don't they. That really is a massive achievement even if the end result is not a happy one.

Employers who are usually cheapskates and won't pay for almost essential things in many other areas and are not swayed by threats of worker strikes and stuff , have splashed out millions for their employees to have the chance of one less day off work.

The answers to "Who" are probably kept secret under the 100 year rule in the UK (this is where really interesting stuff is kept secret until everyone who can be blamed is long dead) and we will never know.
Hmmm.

http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/4490724.Swine_flu_controversy_as_Tamiflu_appears_in_Bucks/


Well here's a rather alarming online post from a UK patient. "I was diagnosed with it yesterday [over the phone, they're not doing tests any more]. They're only giving out medication to people with diabetes, heart disease, asthma or a very high temperature."

Now consider this, quoted directly from the Roche Tamiflu Insert: "The following adverse reactions have been identified during postmarketing use of Tamiflu..... Cardiac: Arrhythmia...... Metabolic: Aggravation of Diabetes...."

What's wrong with this picture?
Meanwhile, in Cardiff........................

Doctors in Wales have discovered a Tamiflu-resistant strain of swine flu that has been spreading from patient to patient in a Cardiff hospital.

The emergence of an easily transmissible, resistant strain is a worrying development for health officials and appears to be the first documented case in Europe.

Five patients at University Hospital Wales, in Cardiff, were infected and isolated for treatment. All had severe underlying conditions that left them with weakened immune systems. At least three had acquired the infection in hospital.

There have been a handful of reported cases from around the world of Tamiflu-resistant strains of the H1N1 virus. Only one previous case, at a US summer camp, however, involved person-to-person transmission.

The Cardiff patients have been treated with an alternative anti-viral drug. Two have recovered and been discharged and three others remain in hospital, one in intensive care.

Dr Roland Salmon, the director of the communicable disease surveillance centre in Wales, said: "The emergence of [H1N1] viruses that are resistant to Tamiflu is not unexpected in patients with serious underlying conditions and suppressed immune systems, who still test positive for the virus despite treatment.

"In this case, the resistant strain of swine flu does not appear to be any more severe than the swine flu virus that has been circulating since April.

"For the vast majority of people, Tamiflu has proved effective in reducing the severity of illness. Vaccination remains the most effective tool we have in preventing swine flu so I urge people identified as being at risk to look out for their invitation to be vaccinated by their GP surgery."


http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/nov/20/tamiflu-resistant-strain-swine-flu
"For the vast majority of people, Tamiflu has proved effective in reducing the severity of illness."

I'd love to meet his patients. I've never yet met anyone who felt better after taking the stuff [and I've been in patient care all my adult life]; plus nearly everbody feels worse from the side effects.

The rapid emergence of resistant strains in hospital comes under the category of "well duh" in my opinion. It only takes a single RNA base change, which exists as a subpopulation naturally in every influenza strain ever tested. All you have to do is add the selective force of the drug, and there you go: instant resistant flu.

Thanks for posting, MidgeKitty! Hope you are enjoying Autumnal splendor in your neck of the woods.
And now this.

There is no clear evidence that Tamiflu prevents complications in people with flu, an analysis suggests.

While studies have shown the antiviral can cut the length of time people have symptoms by about a day, no real evidence has emerged that it prevents conditions like pneumonia, researchers said.

The study, published online in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), questions the validity of research from Roche, the pharmaceutical giant that makes Tamiflu.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/Swine_flu/article6949293.ece
Look, it's like this. This government hasn't got a business or scientific brain in its whole collective head. So when some clever bod from a transnational company, whether it's drugs or IT, neither of which the government has a clue about, offers them a carrot, they think they're being generous. "Suck us dry?" they ask. "Surely not. I know they did it last time but they said 'sorry' and they won't do it again."
And they get duped again and again. I know they do it because I was around when Dawn Primarollo got duped over IR35. This was a tax swindle that penalised independent IT contractors who were undercutting the government's favourite IT company that was advising Ms Primarollo.
As for Tamiflu, the only reason why we're stuck with this pile of rubbish is that the government were woefully lacking in planning for bird flu. They flapped around like headless versions of the bloody birds they were supposed to be planning against and eventually ordered loads of the drugs. These happened to arrive just when pig flu was getting underway and everyone had forgotten what they were actually ordered to combat.
How does the quote go? "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence"

It is probably mostly incompetence in this case though I expect corruption played it's part too. The government has made its position clear on honesty and decency many times (basically they have no use for it).

I'm not sure which depresses me the most. Do we want to be ruled by clever evil people or stupid people?
In my extensive experience working in an absurdly large and wasteful bureaucracy, clever evil people are in charge. They rise to top positions by virtue of being both clever and evil. [unscrupulous beats honorable every time, no contest. ]

They prefer stupid people working under their control; they do everything in their power to get rid of clever people working for them because honest competent underlings will notice the evil and try to get rid of it.

Smart honest workers are a disposable commodity; clever and evil bosses use them briefly to get a bit of actual work done and then destroy them as soon as possible.
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