Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Lessons from the flu vaccine shortage
[Melanie Coffee, "Illinois trying to buy French vaccine," Associated Press, The Wichita Eagle, 26 October 2004.]
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is pushing the FDA to allow him to import flu vaccine from France. As is often the case, though, such government intervention in the face of "market crises" does not address the root causes of the problem, which can usually be traced to...government intervention.
This is certainly the case with regard to the flu vaccine shortage. Why are we down to only one major supplier in the U.S.? The vaccine industry is one of the most heavily regulated in the country. As a result, while there used to be a number of companies producing the vaccines, most have either shut up shop or moved overseas.
There is an important lesson here for the future of medicine. As calls grow for the government to "clamp down" on greedy pharmaceutical companies, it is vital to recognize that what has taken place in the vaccine market could just as easily occur in the market for prescription drugs. In order to effectively meet demand, markets need less regulation, not more.
[Melanie Coffee, "Illinois trying to buy French vaccine," Associated Press, The Wichita Eagle, 26 October 2004.]
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is pushing the FDA to allow him to import flu vaccine from France. As is often the case, though, such government intervention in the face of "market crises" does not address the root causes of the problem, which can usually be traced to...government intervention.
This is certainly the case with regard to the flu vaccine shortage. Why are we down to only one major supplier in the U.S.? The vaccine industry is one of the most heavily regulated in the country. As a result, while there used to be a number of companies producing the vaccines, most have either shut up shop or moved overseas.
There is an important lesson here for the future of medicine. As calls grow for the government to "clamp down" on greedy pharmaceutical companies, it is vital to recognize that what has taken place in the vaccine market could just as easily occur in the market for prescription drugs. In order to effectively meet demand, markets need less regulation, not more.
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