Health Care Rationing In America

Winter is coming on fast and people are starting to get worried about the second round of the H1N1 virus. A few months ago, a vaccine was created. This was good news, but enough couldn't be made in time for everyone to get the immunization at the same time, so the CDC created a list of those who should receive the first batches of the vaccine.

The following groups were to receive the vaccine before the general population did -- pregnant women, health care workers, people ages 2 through 24, caregivers for babies under 6 months old, and people ages 25 through 64 with chronic health conditions that made them susceptible to the flu.

This made perfect sense to me, and I was willing to step back and let these groups go first. But it just hasn't worked out that way. Those of us that actually thought these high-risk groups would get to go first should have known better. We obviously forgot the way health care is rationed in the United States.

In those countries with "socialized medicine", health care (including vaccinations) are given first to those with the greatest need. The Republicans call this "rationing", and I suppose it is. At least it's a system of rationing that makes sense. Those with the greatest need should be put at the head of the line.

We also have a system of rationing health care here in the United States. But our system has nothing to do with actual need. It is based on wealth. Those with the most money receive the best and most health care, and those with the least money receive the least (or no) health care. It's not a fair system of rationing, but it is our system.

So it shouldn't have surprised anyone that wealthy corporations got first crack at the H1N1 vaccine. The CDC (to their shame) approved the sale of varying amounts of the vaccine (from hundreds of doses to thousands of doses) to at least a dozen huge Wall Street financial organizations like Goldman-Sachs. Large private health organizations like Kaiser Permanente have also received a large supply of the vaccine.

Meanwhile, many of those in the target groups with the most need have been unable to get the vaccine. Some may think something went wrong in the distribution of the vaccine, but that's just not true. America's rationing system worked just like it always has -- the rich go first and everyone else fights for whatever is left.

If you don't like this system of rationing, it's time to contact your Congress and demand real health care reform. The rich and their allies, Big Pharma and Big Insurance, won't give in without a fight. But then, no good change has come in this country without a fight, and real health care reform (with a public option) is worth fighting for.

Immunization NOT Cause Of Girl's Death

A few days ago, newspapers published the story of a British schoolgirl who became ill and died just hours after receiving an immunization shot of the drug Cervarix. The shot is to immunize young girls against the human papilloma virus (HPV), which can cause cervical cancer. The news stories left a clear impression that the girl had died from the vaccine.

The maker of the vaccine, GlaxoSmithKline, recalled a batch of the vaccine for testing, and the government health service quarantined a batch. But now it looks like everyone overreacted.

Dr. Caron Grainger, director of Coventry NHS services, said the vaccination was "most unlikely to have caused the death", and revealed that a preliminary post-mortem examination had "revealed a serious underlying medical condition which was likely to have caused death."

In plain language, the vaccine did not cause the death, but just coincidentally happened to be given right before her serious medical problem struck. The government is not stopping the vaccination program.

It did seem odd that the vaccine would all of a sudden turn into a killer. About 1.4 million doses have been given out and there have only been 4657 adverse reactions -- none of them life threatening (see chart for the specific reactions).

I hope the news organizations will give as much space or time to the news that the vaccine is not responsible for the death, as they did when inferring the vaccine was responsible. They scared a lot of people by drawing premature conclusions.