| **Rant at the end of post.**
Demand Is High, Leaving Health-Care Providers At Mercy Of Price Gougers
The supply of flu vaccine is way down, but demand isn't -- leaving flu shot providers at the mercy of price gougers.
A Kansas hospital was ready to pay as much as $600 for every 10 shots it needed until other health providers shared their supply. In Florida and Colorado, distributors are charging $100 or more per dose.
The only company still providing the vaccine says it hasn't raised its wholesale price, even after a British company said it wouldn't be providing any vaccine to the U.S. this year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it's working with states to prosecute price gougers.
And the lone vaccine provider, Aventis, plans to redistribute its remaining supply, sending it first to nursing homes and pediatricians.
Jack Bond, the pharmacy director of Wesley Medical Center, told the Associated Press that price gouging started almost immediately after news that Chiron Corp. wouldn't be shipping any flu vaccine to the U.S. this season.
Bond added that his pharmacy offered an $85 vial of flu vaccine for up to $600.
Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at news conference said anyone capitalizing on the flu vaccine shortage is short on morals.
Connecticut Officials Investigating Price-Gouging Complaints
The state of Connecticut is launching an investigation into allegations of price gouging for flu shots in the state. Gov. M. Jodi Rell ordered the state Department of Public Health to ask physicians, hospitals, visiting nurse associations and other health care providers to immediately report any suspected case of price gouging for the flu vaccine.
"Anyone who would attempt to profit from this shortage is beneath contempt," Rell said. "This vaccine is essential to keeping our vulnerable populations -- the elderly, the chronically ill, the very young and the people who care for them -- from serious illness this winter. I cannot conceive of anyone greedy enough or depraved enough to sell this medicine at exorbitant prices, but that's what has been reported in other parts of the country." Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's office launched the investigation after a local consumer complained the going rate for flu shots was $100 per dose.
Blumenthal said he has received similar price-gouging complaints from other flu shot locations around the state. The shortage of flu vaccine has led to long lines across the state. "Some people really feel very threatened by the potential of flu, and certainly that's no excuse for their being victimized with inflated charges," he said.
The attorney general said he will seek refunds for people who can prove they were overcharged. He is also looking into the possibility of counterfeit or black-market sales of flu shots in the state. There have been no complaints that might indicate such things were happening, but those issues have been problems in other states, NBC30 Connecticut News reported.
**Ok. The people who are doing this are scum! They are the scum of the earth and they belong next to the scummiest scum on the face of the earth! How the F does a person who sells a vial of flu vaccine for $65.00 one day and then says we had a small increase in price and now the same F’ing vial is going to cost $600.00 to $800.00! How do they function in this society? I hope these scum are the ones that get the flu and have to sit at home feeling the effects of a very dangerous illness. There are people who will die because they could not afford a flu shot.
I hope every attorney general of every state comes down on this varmint scum and require them to adhere to the price they set for them selves before there was a shortage. Rant over.** |