Re: vaccine prioritization during a pandemic

At 11:44 AM 5/18/2006, drsyme@cablespeed.com wrote:

>"...someone is going to have to make choices. But what is the criteria?"

@ The same criteria that is used when the money starts running out
(after the golden goose is eventually cooked) in any and all
socialized medicine / universal health care schemes.

<http://www.freerepublic.com/focus//focus/f-news/1594621/posts>The
Greatest Canadian? (Socialist
Eugenicist) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1594621/posts
<http://www.freerepublic.com/focus//^http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49218>WorldNetDaily
^ | 3/11/06 | Ted Byfield
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, whose fidelity to left-wing
politics never diminishes while its share of the Canadian television
audience diminishes steadily, will present tomorrow and Monday its
version of the man it has proclaimed "The Greatest Canadian." That
man is Thomas Clement Douglas, "Father of Canadian Medicare," the
leader of the first socialist government elected in North America and
founding leader of the socialist New Democratic Party. A CBC contest,
conducted among the 10 percent of Canadians who watch the federally
funded network, bestowed the "Greatest Canadian" title upon Tommy
Douglas two years ago. Pre-broadcast reviews of the CBC's four-hour...

<http://www.freerepublic.com/focus//focus/f-news/1598566/posts>Ont.
physician turns away patient for being 55+ (Canada-socialized
medicine) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1598566/posts
<http://www.freerepublic.com/focus//^http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060317/doctor_age_060317/20060317?hub=TopStories>CTV.ca
^ | Fri. Mar. 17 2006 | CTV.ca News Staff
A 59-year-old Ontario woman on disability for a heart-related problem
is complaining of age discrimination after she was rejected by a
local doctor advertising for new patients. Edith Paulus had already
endured two fruitless years of searching for a family physician in
Barrie -- a city designated under Ontario's ministry of health as
being under-serviced for family doctors -- when she found Dr. Derek
Nesdoly's ad in a local community newspaper. The general practitioner
was seeking new patients. But when Paulus called Nesdoly's office in
Midhurst, a community just west of Barrie, she was told the doctor
wasn't accepting patients...

<http://www.freerepublic.com/focus//focus/f-news/1592469/posts>Sen.
Clinton Pushing New Hillarycare
Bill http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1592469/posts
<http://www.freerepublic.com/focus//^http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/3/8/122752.shtml?s=ic>NewsMax
^ | 3/8/06 | NewsMax
2008 presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has introduced new
Hillarycare legislation in Congress, saying the measure will bring
the nation "one step closer to the goal of expanding access to
quality, affordable healthcare to all Americans." In a statement
posted to her official Senate web site on Tuesday, Mrs. Clinton said
her "Small Employer Health Benefits Program Act" will allow small
businesses to deliver healthcare coverage the same way the federal
government does under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
Under the bill, she explained, employers would be able to negotiate
for lower costs and employees would have access to a...

And as I wrote to someone else, they don't even know who might be
vulnerable to that sort of strain of flu yet, and can't even make a
vaccine until after the outbreak, so it's moot.

"In the 1918 pandemic the people who died were young, healthy
20-year-olds. ... Because it will take as long as six months after
an outbreak begins to produce an effective vaccine, Abramson said, it
will be possible to adjust the policy as scientists learn more about
the virus, who is most vulnerable and what strategies appear most
successful."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/11/AR2006051101601.html

As far as George's point about triage goes, on the spot triage
decisions in an unexpected crisis situation is one thing, but I call
it something else in a non-crisis situation when the elitist /
so-called intellectual class / central planners are involved. I call
it "utilitarianism".

Then, to the disappointment, I'm sure, of the central planners there
is this news:

Bird-flu pandemic threat seen waning
Washington Times ^ | 5-17-06 | Joyce Howard Price
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20060517-125628-9481r.htm

~ Janice
Received on Fri May 19 14:33:15 2006