Snicklefritz
Senior Moderator
State legislature rebuffs Crist's call to buy anti-viral drugs
by Linda Kleindienst
Tallahassee Bureau Chief
Posted April 11 2007
Tallahassee -- When a flu pandemic swept through Florida in 1918, entire cities were quarantined, so many people fell sick that hospitals ran short of blankets, and thousands died.
Today, public health officials are warning that Florida, and the nation, again may face medical catastrophe if another strain of the virus, known as avian flu, mutates and spreads among humans.
To be ready, Gov. Charlie Crist is asking the Legislature to spend $36.7 million on anti-viral drugs, enough to treat 4.8 million people. But the House and Senate, which today will put the final touches on their individual proposals for a $70 billion-plus state budget, haven't set aside a cent for the drugs.
The Florida Department of Health has estimated that another worldwide flu pandemic could result in as many as 3.2 million Floridians needing outpatient care, 78,400 others being hospitalized, and 8,400 to 19,500 deaths.
When Spanish influenza circled the earth at the end of World War I, it killed nearly 700,000 Americans and possibly as many as 100 million people worldwide. About half of the planet's population may have been infected.
In Florida, which then had a population of less than 1 million, there were an estimated 30,000 cases and at least 3,100 deaths, with Jacksonville being the hardest-hit city.
To prevent another flu-related health crisis, the U.S. government last June negotiated a contract with two drug companies to purchase a national stockpile of anti-viral drugs at reduced prices, and to reimburse 25 percent of the cost for states that did the same. As result, many states already have built up their own arsenals of the drugs, paying $14 per treatment instead of the up to $100 that a pharmacy would charge.
California and New York have spent $54.6 million and $23 million, respectively.
Florida is the only state not participating in the federally subsidized program, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
By buying the drugs now so they are on hand if needed, Crist has argued, Florida could halve the number of deaths and hospitalizations caused by an outbreak of bird flu. But the legislators who hold the purse strings for public health expenditures have balked at spending millions on products with a shelf life of five years.
"When we spend that much money, we want to make sure it's a drug that will be effective when needed," said Sen. Durell Peaden, R-Crestview, chairman of the Senate's Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee.
"If people knew the choices that we have to make, I believe 99 percent would vote to take care of our kids, seniors and the most vulnerable over a vaccine that most likely would be thrown in the trash can," said Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, chairman of the House Healthcare Council.
So far, there have been 285 confirmed cases worldwide of bird flu in humans and 170 deaths. The first cases were reported in Hong Kong in 1997, and the virus has since spread to Russia and Europe. It has yet to be detected in the Western Hemisphere.
In the event of a U.S. outbreak, federal officials have warned, the states can't count on Washington.
"I need to say with a clear and unwavering voice that any community that fails to prepare, with the expectation that somehow the federal government will have the resources to ride in and save the day, will be sorely disappointed," Mike Leavitt, the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, said last year.
"If a pandemic strikes, it will come to Florida," Leavitt said at a conference in Tallahassee.
A March report by the Trust for America's Health, funded by the nonprofit Pew Charitable Trusts, found that a severe outbreak could kill 2.2 million Americans and result in the second worst recession since World War II. States that depend on tourism and entertainment could be hit particularly hard. The report estimated Florida's economy could lose $38.7 billion.
"We're betting the lives of the people of Florida that it's not going to happen," said Bobby Brantley, a former lieutenant governor who lobbies for the Roche pharmaceutical company, the maker of Tamiflu, one of the anti-viral drugs made to be taken after exposure to the disease.
"In 1918, between 50 and 100 million people died. But think how mobile the population is today. This could hit every state simultaneously. It's scary," Brantley said.
Other states already have lined up to take Florida's share of the federal drug subsidy, which they can use to buy Tamiflu or Relenza, a competing product made by GlaxoSmithKline. The two drugs are the only ones found, so far, to be effective in fighting avian flu.
"You buy an insurance policy hoping you'll never have to use it. That's what this is, a $36 million insurance policy," Brantley argued. "To just do nothing makes no sense."
Lynette Norris of the Tallahassee Bureau contributed to this report.
Linda Kleindienst can be reached at lkleindienst@sun-sentinel.com or 850-224-6214.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...lu11apr11,0,5725008.story?coll=sfla-news-sfla
There's an opportunity to respond to this article at the link above - Snick
by Linda Kleindienst
Tallahassee Bureau Chief
Posted April 11 2007
Tallahassee -- When a flu pandemic swept through Florida in 1918, entire cities were quarantined, so many people fell sick that hospitals ran short of blankets, and thousands died.
Today, public health officials are warning that Florida, and the nation, again may face medical catastrophe if another strain of the virus, known as avian flu, mutates and spreads among humans.
To be ready, Gov. Charlie Crist is asking the Legislature to spend $36.7 million on anti-viral drugs, enough to treat 4.8 million people. But the House and Senate, which today will put the final touches on their individual proposals for a $70 billion-plus state budget, haven't set aside a cent for the drugs.
The Florida Department of Health has estimated that another worldwide flu pandemic could result in as many as 3.2 million Floridians needing outpatient care, 78,400 others being hospitalized, and 8,400 to 19,500 deaths.
When Spanish influenza circled the earth at the end of World War I, it killed nearly 700,000 Americans and possibly as many as 100 million people worldwide. About half of the planet's population may have been infected.
In Florida, which then had a population of less than 1 million, there were an estimated 30,000 cases and at least 3,100 deaths, with Jacksonville being the hardest-hit city.
To prevent another flu-related health crisis, the U.S. government last June negotiated a contract with two drug companies to purchase a national stockpile of anti-viral drugs at reduced prices, and to reimburse 25 percent of the cost for states that did the same. As result, many states already have built up their own arsenals of the drugs, paying $14 per treatment instead of the up to $100 that a pharmacy would charge.
California and New York have spent $54.6 million and $23 million, respectively.
Florida is the only state not participating in the federally subsidized program, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
By buying the drugs now so they are on hand if needed, Crist has argued, Florida could halve the number of deaths and hospitalizations caused by an outbreak of bird flu. But the legislators who hold the purse strings for public health expenditures have balked at spending millions on products with a shelf life of five years.
"When we spend that much money, we want to make sure it's a drug that will be effective when needed," said Sen. Durell Peaden, R-Crestview, chairman of the Senate's Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee.
"If people knew the choices that we have to make, I believe 99 percent would vote to take care of our kids, seniors and the most vulnerable over a vaccine that most likely would be thrown in the trash can," said Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, chairman of the House Healthcare Council.
So far, there have been 285 confirmed cases worldwide of bird flu in humans and 170 deaths. The first cases were reported in Hong Kong in 1997, and the virus has since spread to Russia and Europe. It has yet to be detected in the Western Hemisphere.
In the event of a U.S. outbreak, federal officials have warned, the states can't count on Washington.
"I need to say with a clear and unwavering voice that any community that fails to prepare, with the expectation that somehow the federal government will have the resources to ride in and save the day, will be sorely disappointed," Mike Leavitt, the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, said last year.
"If a pandemic strikes, it will come to Florida," Leavitt said at a conference in Tallahassee.
A March report by the Trust for America's Health, funded by the nonprofit Pew Charitable Trusts, found that a severe outbreak could kill 2.2 million Americans and result in the second worst recession since World War II. States that depend on tourism and entertainment could be hit particularly hard. The report estimated Florida's economy could lose $38.7 billion.
"We're betting the lives of the people of Florida that it's not going to happen," said Bobby Brantley, a former lieutenant governor who lobbies for the Roche pharmaceutical company, the maker of Tamiflu, one of the anti-viral drugs made to be taken after exposure to the disease.
"In 1918, between 50 and 100 million people died. But think how mobile the population is today. This could hit every state simultaneously. It's scary," Brantley said.
Other states already have lined up to take Florida's share of the federal drug subsidy, which they can use to buy Tamiflu or Relenza, a competing product made by GlaxoSmithKline. The two drugs are the only ones found, so far, to be effective in fighting avian flu.
"You buy an insurance policy hoping you'll never have to use it. That's what this is, a $36 million insurance policy," Brantley argued. "To just do nothing makes no sense."
Lynette Norris of the Tallahassee Bureau contributed to this report.
Linda Kleindienst can be reached at lkleindienst@sun-sentinel.com or 850-224-6214.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...lu11apr11,0,5725008.story?coll=sfla-news-sfla
There's an opportunity to respond to this article at the link above - Snick
