America -- Land of Opportunity -- for H5N1

All that fuss out there about preparation against H5N1 pandemic seems to me
to miss the point. Bush proposes to throw lots of money at it, good PR and
a favor to the many FOBs in Washington. (Friends of Bush.) And while he's
at it, he will be making political stage for a next Republican president.
All this can only offer powerful new plot materials for writers of black
humor and dystopias.

Seems to me, the core problem isn't something that responds to large slugs
of money into the pockets of already rich men. It is our medical system,
which isn't a system at all. It's a large collection of little fiefdoms,
each one optimizing its net income, taking from everyone else in the
vicinity. They are of course interested in their clients, i.e., their cash
primarily and to a token degree, their health.

So the "system" is not a medical system at all: it's a large collection of
competing appetities, and the ones who run the show are those best connected
in Washington. Not the medical research community.

A medical system could respond to a pandemic, making maximum effective use
of resources. This existing crowd, full of sibling competition, will
produce loads of PR when people start dying; and considering the character
of those in Washington, the number of prayer meetings and days will greatly
increase. ...Money for medical science -- won't.

>From H5N1's point of view, this is *truly great*. Lots of money spent on
inappropriate medications for faith/fear based reasons takes from finding
and using treatments that work. Tamiflu? (Read up on H5N1 Tamiflu
resistance.) Patent holders wonderfully enriched by research and
manufacture restrictions to guarantee top dollar. America -- Land of
Opportunity -- for H5N1.

Grump -- Martha Adams








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