H1N1 Swine Flu Analysis

In a nutshell, I am skeptical about the spiel surrounding swine flu right now. The reason I'm skeptical is because I know that drugs of any kind can have adverse side effects and its almost impossible to know what the long term issues will be until a product has been on the market for decades.

There have been plenty of examples of substances that have caused serious harm and injury even after having been touted as safe by authorities and manufacturers. (See: CFCs, Cocaine, MSG, Tobacco, Oxycontin etc...)

Hence, when I hear that a vaccine has been "Rushed" to market, I am immediately skeptical of its safety. Further, despite the wide spread hysteria, the flu and even the "Swine flu" are not inherently lethal. Meaning that the cost to benefit ratio is not as steep as some would suggest. I.e. you can contract the swine flu and recover using the traditional treatment regimens used for the regular flu. Therefore, the cost to benefit analysis looks something like this: Cost - possible unknown long term side effects, Benefit - possible diminution in flu symptoms.

As far as I know, clinical trials are a relatively short and cannot be used to study long term effects.

Finally, there is the financial matter; These vaccines aren't free. If I had a business where my product was touted as being the best defense to what was being called a potentially life threatening ailment, you could bet my business would be booming. This means that there is a tremendous incentive for vaccine manufacturers to further the notion that this vaccine could be the difference between life and death.

I am not making any allegations of corruption, but I do know that our government is the best money can buy; and bought it is. That is, lobbying, while not itself an evil thing, can be utilized towards less then honorable goals, by whomever has the funds and drive to do so.

Perhaps ironically, I am one of the first people to advocate preparedness and preventative measures in avoiding costly mistakes.

However, I simply cannot accept that this is one of the few (non military) times when the government has decided to be so insightful. I look at the sometimes complete ineptitude in recent history and see a stark examples of just the opposite. (See New Orleans during and after Katrina and look at the imminent failure or Social Security).

I truly hope that my concerns are unfounded as I would hate to see people harmed by this entire event.

Nothing to do now but wait and see how events play out.