Of Vaccines and Lawyers

[Hobbit]

Ok, for those of you who are still brain-dead, vaccines = good. Lawyers = bad. For years, ambulance chasers have been claiming that vaccines cause all sorts of problems, autism being highest among them. If you have a child who is less than perfect, be prepared to be assailed by dozens of lawyers willing to blame your child's problems on anything you can dream of, with medicine being at the top of the list. The latest example is vaccines and autism. Autism diagnoses have increased sharply in recent years, because until recently, shortfalls in medical understanding of the condition caused autistic people to be classified as retarded. Lawyers, knowing more about medicine than doctors, have instead decided that vaccines are the culprit. RFK Jr. even claims vaccines are the cause of IQ loss, mental retardation, speech delay, language delay, ADD, and hyperactivity. The scare has gotten so great about the so-called 'dangers' of vaccines, that many parents aren't getting their children innoculated, leading to a rise in easily preventable diseases, such as measles, mumps, and whooping cough. On the supply side, making vaccines is such a risk to companies that a successful vaccine for the highly dangerous lyme disease is unavailable to the public. It has been approved by the FDA, but it has been deemed to big of a legal liability for any company to manufacture. John Stossel, continuing the discussion he started with his 20/20 special "Scared Stiff" (which I missed...grrr), weighs in.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/02/the_fear_industrial_complex.html

[glockmail]

Its well documented that a small percentage of those vaccinated get sick from the vacine, some even die. The risk/ benefit ratio has been deemed acceptable by the medical community, so they are continued to be used.

[Hobbit]

Its well documented that a small percentage of those vaccinated get sick from the vacine, some even die. The risk/ benefit ratio has been deemed acceptable by the medical community, so they are continued to be used.

Yes, but what price do we pay for the liability? Flu vaccine shortages are caused by the fact that lawsuits have chased off all but four companies. Then there's the people who actually believe the bullcrap about vaccines causing all this harm. They don't vaccinate their children, and their children die from preventable diseases.

And like I said, nobody will touch the lyme disease vaccine (something I'd happily pay money for, especially after the scares we had at Boy Scout camp) because of lawsuit fears.

[glockmail]

Yes, but what price do we pay for the liability? Flu vaccine shortages are caused by the fact that lawsuits have chased off all but four companies. Then there's the people who actually believe the bullcrap about vaccines causing all this harm. They don't vaccinate their children, and their children die from preventable diseases.

And like I said, nobody will touch the lyme disease vaccine (something I'd happily pay money for, especially after the scares we had at Boy Scout camp) because of lawsuit fears.

I think this is a case where govco can actually do some good. If a govco-medical panel decides that the vaccine risks are acceptable, then that govco department should step in with a program to pay out to the individuals who get harmed by the vaccine from a govco trust fund. The vaccine companies could pay a small percentage of sales to the govco trust fund, in return for immunity from lawsuits, as long as they abide by standards set by govco.

This type of system is not without precedent and would reduce the risks to vaccine companies so they could afford to do what they should be doing.

[Hobbit]

I think this is a case where govco can actually do some good. If a govco-medical panel decides that the vaccine risks are acceptable, then that govco department should step in with a program to pay out to the individuals who get harmed by the vaccine from a govco trust fund. The vaccine companies could pay a small percentage of sales to the govco trust fund, in return for immunity from lawsuits, as long as they abide by standards set by govco.

This type of system is not without precedent and would reduce the risks to vaccine companies so they could afford to do what they should be doing.

It's been tried. As soon as lawyers figured out that they were being cut out of the loop, they stopped suing over the vaccine itself, and instead began suing over things such as silicon-based needle coatings and mercury based preservatives.

[glockmail]

It's been tried. As soon as lawyers figured out that they were being cut out of the loop, they stopped suing over the vaccine itself, and instead began suing over things such as silicon-based needle coatings and mercury based preservatives. Then you set standards for that stuff as well. Its the guv'mint's Constitutionally mandated damn job to set standards!