UK - Guards to protect swine flu drug depots

[FrenchieGirl]

Guards to protect swine flu drug depots

MARK BLUNDEN, London Lite
Monday, July 20, 2009

[Photo] Tamiflu is to be offered at distribution centres

A ring of steel is being set up around NHS supplies of Tamiflu in London and across the UK.

Security guards will be brought in to protect the swine flu medication when more than 100 new distribution centres are set up this week, amid fears it will be targeted by thieves.

The location of collection points will be kept secret until they are ready to open and security experts have issued guidance to make sure staff and supplies are kept safe.

 

[St Michael]

Re: UK - Guards to protect swine flu drug depots

If it is only a "mild" flu, why is this necessary?

 

[Road_Hog]

Re: UK - Guards to protect swine flu drug depots

If it is only a "mild" flu, why is this necessary?

It isn't to do with the severity of the flu, is more to do with the value of the drugs on the open market.

 

[St Michael]

Re: UK - Guards to protect swine flu drug depots

It isn't to do with the severity of the flu, is more to do with the value of the drugs on the open market.

Drugs have little value on the open market if there is no demand for them.

Is the perceived demand due to panic and hysteria, or do they anticipate demand will skyrocket soon due to the severity of the fall wave of the pandemic?

 

[FrenchieGirl]

Re: UK - Guards to protect swine flu drug depots

Tamiflu will only be worth a lot of money if the flu is, or becomes, severe.

If thieves hadn't already had the idea to steal some tamiflu from some hospital pharmacy or town drugstore, to sell it at the price of gold, now they only have to read the newspapers day-by-day to find some get-rich-quick marketing niche, start making business plans and forward projections, with different profit results according to estimated present or future flu severity...

Btw, what would be the current price of Tamiflu on the black market in UK?

Come to that, how about the current projected worth of the "Double Golden Shots" elusive vaccine?

I don't suppose thieves will read FT, will they?

Jus' sayin'...

 

[Road_Hog]

Re: UK - Guards to protect swine flu drug depots

Drugs have little value on the open market if there is no demand for them.

Is the perceived demand due to panic and hysteria, or do they anticipate demand will skyrocket soon due to the severity of the fall wave of the pandemic?

Answering your original question and your question above together. There are only two reasons for having security, one to stop thieves (the criminal kind) or two, to stop citizens storming (overwhelming counter staff/medical staff) the depot and taking the Tamiflu for personal use.

Britain (UK) is not a nation known for civil disobedience and therefore people are very unlikely to march en-masse and take the Tamiflu by force. The only time that sort of think might happen in Britain is, if the consequences of not having the drug were worse then being arrested and locked up in jail. We would have to be at a stage where swine flu was killing people in the hundreds of thousands before that would happen.

So, by default I suggested that security was there to stop the criminal element, organised theft. I suspect that there might be greater demand for them soon, as I don't think supplies of Tamiflu are that great in Britain. Not that the government would tell you anyway. I think the underlying cirmcumstances phrase has worked well here, but as people start to die who are otherwise healthy and quite often young (not your normal flu victims), people have started to take the flu more seriously. If not many more die or the rate stays low, then probably not a lot will happen, or not until autumn/winter really kick in.

So I think it is a case of both, if the death rate creeps up then so will the panic and I think that our Dept. of Health thinks the demand will soar during the winter.

 

[Road_Hog]

Re: UK - Guards to protect swine flu drug depots

Tamiflu will only be worth a lot of money if the flu is, or becomes, severe.

Correct.

If thieves hadn't already had the idea to steal some tamiflu from some hospital pharmacy or town drugstore, to sell it at the price of gold,

Our chemists (drugstore/pharmnacy) haven't had large stocks, you'd be lucky to find one with more than a dozen packets of Tamiflu, I would say. This is the first time large quantities will be available at one depot and at a nationally publicised place.

Btw, what would be the current price of Tamiflu on the black market in UK?

Come to that, how about the current projected worth of the "Double Golden Shots" elusive vaccine?

I don't know what price it is on the black market for, the online price (i.e. not through your own doctor) to buy it with an online consultation seems to be between ?50 - ?100.

As for the vaccination, no, it would be worthless. Buying nicely branded Tamilfu boxes that look they're pretty much guaranteed the real thing would find customers if the flu became bad and you struggled to get it through legitimate routes. But buying bottles of a clear liquid and injecting yourself with it, wouldn't be very appealing.

 

[FrenchieGirl]

Re: UK - Guards to protect swine flu drug depots

Thanks Road Hog. I agree with much of what you've written. Though, knowing humans, even these quiet Brits next to whom I have lived a few years, I'd say that despite this calm character, if a parent were to want a drug for his/her child, some would not hesitate to storm a depot if the perceived need was strong enough. As for black market, that is a flourishing practice for any kind of goods, so long as that perceived need is there. Even for a vial of clear liquid. The devastation of having a loved one very very sick will make people resort to any solution that will be thought helpful, and never mind the consequences, be them legal or otherwise. So I beg to disagree a little on your viewpoint.