Anyone who has picked up a newspaper lately (which, sadly, seems to leave our President out) is aware that we are facing a severe shortage of flu vaccine this year. Being more concerned about the news than W, I was aware of the flu shortage. Working in a hospital didn't hurt, either.
So I knew we'd have to scale back our inoculation program this year. Okay. Well, not okay, but there's not much we can do about it.
What pisses me off is what I learned today in our Senior Staff meeting. Now, in general, things discussed in there aren't things I'd be willing to repeat. Not that we're doing such earth-shaking things, but there's an expectation of confidentiality.
This piece of information, however, is something slowly making its way into the news cycle, so I feel comfortable sharing this appalling bit of news: the flu vaccine suppliers are price gouging!
Our price per dose for flu vaccine was $7.58 prior to the announced shortage. The new price? $55.00 per dose. That's not a typo. Because of the shortage, they boosted the price from less than ten dollars a dose to more than fifty dollars!
We've already heard from plenty of local doctors who won't be buying vaccine even if it's made available to them. A large part of the local population is poor, and the doctors are unwilling to be left holding the bag for the cost of these vaccinations, now that the cost has gone so high.
I'm well aware of the free market concept of supply and demand, but this is barbaric! People who would otherwise have survived this season will die instead, all so some rich bastards can line their pockets.
My comment in Senior Staff was, "I hope the Justice Department goes after those bastards." The icing on the cake? During my drive home, they mentioned the price gouging on NPR and added that price gouging for flu vaccine apparently isn't prohibited by federal law. Why am I not surprised? Nauseated but, having given it a little thought, really not surprised.
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