NYTimes.com Article: Juvenile Vaccine Problems Worry Officials and Doctors

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Absolutely & %#$@ & *%^ unbelievable.

Sheri

This article from NYTimes.com

has been sent to you by dfoster@....

Now, members of Congress are asking whether the federal government

ought to play a larger role in managing the supply of vaccine. The

Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences,

said last month that the government should create a National Vaccine

Authority to help companies produce and distribute vaccine.

dfoster@...

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/02/health/02HEAL.html?ex=1008414379 & ei=1 & en=a

86f77db1ab2b3c2

Juvenile Vaccine Problems Worry Officials and Doctors

December 2, 2001

By ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 - Federal and state officials and

doctors across the country are expressing alarm at

shortages, delays and uncertainty in the production and

supply of major childhood vaccines.

The delays and shortages have forced states to ration

vaccines, set new priorities and revise their immunization

policies and requirements. Colorado, for example, has

reduced the number of shots a child must have to enroll in

school or in a day care center, and as a result, some

children have less protection against diseases like

diphtheria and whooping cough.

Dr. R. , chief medical executive in the

Michigan Department of Community Health, said, " We don't

know from month to month, week to week or day to day what

will happen to our vaccine supply.

In a bulletin sent to states this week, the federal

government reported shortages of vaccines against 4 of the

11 diseases preventable through routine vaccination of

children: diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and

pneumococcal disease, which can cause meningitis and

pneumonia. In addition, the government said, many doctors

have experienced serious delays in the delivery of vaccine

for six other diseases: influenza, chicken pox, measles,

mumps, rubella and hepatitis B.

Two of the largest manufacturers, Merck & Company and Wyeth

Lederle Vaccines, a unit of American Home Products

Corporation, acknowledged the problems. Merck said it was

" experiencing intermittent shortages of some of our

vaccines, " including the one for measles, mumps and

rubella. Merck said that it curtailed vaccine production

over the summer because it was making changes at its

manufacturing plant in West Point, Pa.

In a letter to doctors, Wyeth recently apologized for the

inconvenience caused by shortages of Prevnar, its vaccine

for pneumococcal disease. Petkus, a spokesman for

Wyeth, said demand had exceeded expectations, and the

company had to change manufacturing methods at a plant

where it experienced a bottleneck.

The federal government estimates that the nation needs 1.4

million to 1.6 million doses of Prevnar each month to

protect infants and toddlers against life-threatening

diseases caused by the pneumococcal bacteria. But, it says,

the supply averaged only 707,000 doses a month in September

and October. Children are supposed to get four doses in the

first 15 months of life.

Some manufacturers have halted production of vaccines after

concluding that they were unprofitable. Drug companies are

not required to inform the government they intend to stop

making a vaccine.

Lawsuits used to be a major problem for manufacturers, but

the level of concern has dropped sharply since 1986, when

Congress created a no- fault system to compensate people

injured by childhood vaccines. Under the program, the

government reviews and pays claims for injuries, using

money derived from an excise tax on every dose of vaccine.

Now, members of Congress are asking whether the federal

government ought to play a larger role in managing the

supply of vaccine. The Institute of Medicine, an arm of the

National Academy of Sciences, said last month that the

government should create a National Vaccine Authority to

help companies produce and distribute vaccine.

Senator Jack , Democrat of Rhode Island, said the idea

was worth considering because " the vaccine shortages pose a

real threat to our public health system. "

Dr. Bruce A. Weiss, chief medical officer at AvMed Health

Plan, a nonprofit health maintenance organization in

Florida, said the shortages could undermine years of work.

Two of the four companies that made vaccine against

diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough - Wyeth and North

American Vaccine, now part of Baxter International - have

dropped out of that market.

Federal health officials said the shortages of this vaccine

might continue until late next spring.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/02/health/02HEAL.html?ex=1008414379 & ei=1 & en=a

86f77db1ab2b3c2

Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company

--------------------------------------------------------

Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & Wales UK

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