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Health industry may have exaggerated the dangers of swine flu

  • 12-01-2010 11:21PM
    #1
    AARRRGH
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,382 ✭✭✭✭


    Am I surprised? No, they pull the same trick every few years.

    SARS, Avian Flu, CJD, etc.

    Yet it never ceases to amaze me how the gullible public will swallow whatever the "experts" (also known as vested interests) say. This includes educated, intelligent types; naivety doesn't discriminate.

    So please, in two or three years time when the WHO etc. ask for billions of euros to fight some new killer disease, try to rememeber they're an industry who make their money from fear. I'm not saying they can't be trusted; I'm saying don't blindly believe everything they say. Use your common sense.

    BTW, this applies to every industry, such as our recent example of the public believing estate agents when they said now is the time to buy.
    BBC wrote:
    The World Health Organisation (WHO) is to review its handling of the HIN1 swine flu pandemic, once it is over.

    The WHO has been facing charges from some European politicians that it exaggerated the dangers of swine flu.

    More than 12,700 people worldwide have died from H1N1 - but the virus has turned out to less deadly than feared.

    However, the WHO initially urged rapid development of treatments and vaccines, fearing the virus had the potential to kill millions.

    As a result wealthy countries spent billions on medicines which many believe are now unnecessary.

    Across Europe, governments are trying to resell their stockpiles of swine flu vaccine.

    The Council of Europe is planning an investigation, to begin later this month, into whether pharmaceutical companies influenced public health officials to spend money unnecessarily.

    In Geneva, a WHO spokeswoman acknowledged there were questions to be answered.

    She said the the review of its management of the pandemic would be conducted with independent experts, and the results would be made public.

    However, the review will not begin until the pandemic itself is declared over - and that could still be months away.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8455035.stm


«13456

Comments

  • #2
    easyeason3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,102 ✭✭✭easyeason3


    Thankfully I didn't jump on the swine flu bandwagon & have no intention of doing so either.
    I'm a very healthy female with no underlying medical condition so IF i do manage to catch a dose of it then I'll take my chances with letting my body get sick & then get better. Kinda what I do with the ordinary flu.
    I hate that there's a vaccine & pill for every illness or potential illness.

    I'm looking forward to the day when they invent a vaccine for the 'I've a pain in my hole listening to scaremongers' syndrome. That one I'll gladly take if it works.


  • #3
    Rented Mule
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,154 ✭✭✭Rented Mule


    It's a Catch-22 for the WHO and Health Officials.

    1) Warn everyone of the dangers of a pandemic
    2) Don't warn everyone of the dangers of a pandemic

    Either way people are going to be pissed off .....because that's what people do. They bitch and moan about everything.


  • #4
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 2,738 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    I know you you have the right idea at heart but let's face it, a new virus that is easily spread and can kill quickly would worry anyone.

    Over 8000 people died globally from SARS like so it wasn't just a little thing. Fair enough, nothing like our medieval diseases but even still, only for our knowledge of health today, it may easily have been, with the even easier accessibility of transport globally.

    I agree drug companies have a field day in times like those but I don't agree that they are blown out of proportion. Don't they need resources to uncover the cause of the said infection, enabling it to be brought to an end? I am not sure how much is allocated to whatever bodies associated but I doubt very much people are handing over money nilly willy without a lot of thought.


  • #5
    Pete M.
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 1,096 ✭✭✭Pete M.


    Jay D wrote: »
    ....drug companies have a field day in times.....

    ..... I doubt very much people are handing over money nilly willy without a lot of thought.

    You betcha they are, manna from heaven was the swine flu for 'Pharma'.

    And people on the street may not be handing over the dough, but their governments have.

    Yeah sure, tis bad, people have died, but it was overblown.

    Great way of deflecting attention.


  • #6
    brummytom
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,572 ✭✭✭✭brummytom


    Didn't Donald Rumsfeld have some link to the Tamiflu vaccine?


    /conspiracy


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  • #7
    aidan24326
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,925 ✭✭✭aidan24326


    AARRRGH wrote: »
    Am I surprised? No, they pull the same trick every few years.

    SARS, Avian Flu, CJD, etc.

    All of those were grossly exaggerated. The Foot and Mouth scaremongering was a load of baloney aswell.


    brummytom wrote: »
    Didn't Donald Rumsfeld have some link to the Tamiflu vaccine?

    /conspiracy

    He is former chairman and still substantial shareholder of the company (Gilead) that has the patent and licensing rights for tamiflu. So yes he would have made a nice few quid from that for sure.


  • #8
    RoadKillTs
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,710 ✭✭✭RoadKillTs


    The WHO?


  • #9
    CreepingDeath
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,015 ✭✭✭CreepingDeath


    AARRRGH wrote: »
    Yet it never ceases to amaze me how the gullible public will swallow whatever the "experts" (also known as vested interests) say.

    Yeah, the weathermen said it was going to snow... what did they know :rolleyes:
    They were in the pockets of the salt & grit producers.


  • #10
    Buford T Justice
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,279 ✭✭✭Buford T Justice


    RoadKillTs wrote: »
    The WHO?

    World Health Organisation. - The crowd that laughs as Mary Harney once they find out she is a minister for health


  • #11
    jumpguy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,962 ✭✭✭jumpguy


    Got Swine Flu myself and then it really sank home how much of an overhyped joke it was. Everyone was saying it, way before this report. "Ah sure, it's just a flu!" Well, they were right.

    I personally hope that if pharmeucitical companies are caught in this they suffer the consequences to the letter of the law. It's the same thing done with the banks aswell, I bet you in a year there'll be in an enquiry into the banks "bail us out!!! WE'RE ON THE BRINK!!!"


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  • #12
    The guy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,373 ✭✭✭The guy


    Run to the hills is going to have a field day with this.


  • #13
    the_syco
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 37,310 ✭✭✭✭the_syco


    aidan24326 wrote: »
    All of those were grossly exaggerated. The Foot and Mouth scaremongering was a load of baloney aswell.
    Say that in England where thousands of cows/cattle were destroyed. Ireland took precautions, and didn't get it too hard with it.


  • #14
    Run_to_da_hills
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,009 ✭✭✭✭Run_to_da_hills


    The guy wrote: »
    Run to the hills is going to have a field day with this.
    Naw, prefere to keep this subject in the correct forum. :p


    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/search.php?searchid=10044929

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/search.php?searchid=10044982


  • #15
    aidan24326
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,925 ✭✭✭aidan24326


    the_syco wrote: »
    Say that in England where thousands of cows/cattle were destroyed. Ireland took precautions, and didn't get it too hard with it.

    I meant that the risk to humans was grossly exaggerated. Humans don't catch foot and mouth except in very rare cases, and it's nigh on impossible to catch it from eating meat. The disease is not normally fatal even to the animals that get it. It makes them sick for a while, they don't thrive very well for a few months, but most will recover. The reason for the huge cull of animals is nothing to do with human safety but more to do with stopping the disease spreading and protecting the agri industry (a move which backfired in 2001 in the UK when 80% of the huge number of animals killed were disease-free so they'd have been better just doing nothing).


  • #16
    ColaBeDamned
    Closed Accounts Posts: 125 ✭✭ColaBeDamned


    RoadKillTs wrote: »
    The WHO?
    Fingers McGee wrote: »
    World Health Organisation. - The crowd that laughs as Mary Harney once they find out she is a minister for health


    Caught a fish, RoadKillTs! :pac:


  • #17
    Dave!
    Closed Accounts Posts: 27,856 ✭✭✭✭Dave!


    It's quite easy to say that it was exaggerated and "only" 13,000 people have died from it so far (though this is believed to be considerably higher), but this is after hundreds of millions of people were given the vaccine -- how many people would have died if there was no vaccine?

    The fact is the scientists could not predict how bad it would be -- simply a particularly bad flu season by normal standards (a few hundred thousand die of seasonal flu every year), or a similar pandemic to the ones that killed tens of millions during the last century -- and so they took the safe approach.

    Tinfoil hats off, boys !


  • #18
    phantom_lord
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,896 ✭✭✭✭phantom_lord


    Hold on a second.

    Your title says "Health industry may have exaggerated the dangers of swine flu", but the article you quoted says the WHO is review its handling of the HIN1 swine flu pandemic. The WHO is not the health industry, and I don't think has any incentive to create a false fear about a heath issue.

    Also I think it's being results orientated to say that the threat was exaggerated. As far as they were concerned it appeared that there was likely to be a major threat from this, just because it didn't come to pass does not make what they said wrong.

    And personally, as far as I'm concerned I'm quite content with the WHO being overly protective when it comes to threats like this.


  • #19
    phantom_lord
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,896 ✭✭✭✭phantom_lord


    easyeason3 wrote: »
    I hate that there's a vaccine & pill for every illness or potential illness.

    What an utterly ridiculous thing to say, do you think you could fight off polio on your own too?


  • #20
    Overheal
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 86,683 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    phantom_lord wrote: »
    What an utterly ridiculous thing to say, do you think you could fight off polio on your own too?
    Ah now, don't choke him to his word. Obviously, there are exceptions to any rule.

    However there are in fact A Lot of curealls out there that claim to fix what ails you.... and then of course 12 months later, theyre typically recalled because in the big rush to market these elixirs, somebody winds up Dead.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drospirenone#Adverse_Drug_Reactions_and_Litigation
    Your title says "Health industry may have exaggerated the dangers of swine flu", but the article you quoted says the WHO is review its handling of the HIN1 swine flu pandemic. The WHO is not the health industry, and I don't think has any incentive to create a false fear about a heath issue.
    And the US Senate isnt a business but it doesnt mind accepting flattery from lobbyists.

    Come now.

    You'd really have to Investigate the whole thing, and ask where the findings came from. Who was citing H1N1 as a pandemic, who was pushing these new drugs, where was WHO getting its information from ,etc. etc. etc.


  • #21
    phantom_lord
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,896 ✭✭✭✭phantom_lord


    aidan24326 wrote: »
    I meant that the risk to humans was grossly exaggerated.

    Any examples of this? I don't think anyone was under the impression at the time that there was a threat to humans.

    I agree with what you say here though:
    aidan24326 wrote: »
    The reason for the huge cull of animals is nothing to do with human safety but more to do with stopping the disease spreading and protecting the agri industry


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  • #22
    m@cc@
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,526 ✭✭✭m@cc@


    phantom_lord wrote: »
    The WHO is not the health industry, and I don't think has any incentive to create a false fear about a heath issue.

    Good god, please tell me your joking. The WHO has representatives from the pharmaceutical industry on it commitees.


  • #23
    phantom_lord
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,896 ✭✭✭✭phantom_lord


    m@cc@ wrote: »
    The WHO has representatives from the pharmaceutical industry on it commitees.

    I would imagine it would have to. But the people who control the WHO are public health officials.


  • #24
    m@cc@
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,526 ✭✭✭m@cc@


    phantom_lord wrote: »
    But the people who control the WHO are public health officials.

    Yes and our experiences even in this country with such officials tells us they're all upstanding members of society and not susceptable to fiscal influence??


  • #25
    phantom_lord
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,896 ✭✭✭✭phantom_lord


    The UN isn't Finna Fail.


  • #26
    AARRRGH
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,382 ✭✭✭✭AARRRGH


    phantom_lord wrote: »
    The UN isn't Finna Fail.

    They're worst than Fianna Fail. Research their corruption in Africa.


  • #27
    My name is URL
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,626 ✭✭✭✭My name is URL


    lmao, so the conspiracy theorists were actually on to something all along?

    whoulda thunk it!


  • #28
    AARRRGH
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,382 ✭✭✭✭AARRRGH


    My name is URL wrote: »
    lmao, so the conspiracy theorists were actually on to something all along?

    whoulda thunk it!

    Not conspiracy theorists, just not totally naive. The world is a corrupt place. To think the health industry is somehow immune from this is rather silly.

    Doctors and health officials are not magically better people than say estate agents or bankers. You have to question your information and ask if those giving it have a vested interest in you believing them. It's not surprising that the people shouting loudest about the threat of swine flu were those who received most of the billions we spent on it.

    Come on, this is basic common sense.


  • #29
    phantom_lord
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,896 ✭✭✭✭phantom_lord


    AARRRGH wrote: »
    It's not surprising that the people shouting loudest about the threat of swine flu were those who received most of the billions we spent on it.
    are you still insisting that the WHO is the "health industry" and had something to gain from inflating the threat about this disease?


  • #30
    hooradiation
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,922 ✭✭✭hooradiation


    My name is URL wrote: »
    lmao, so the conspiracy theorists were actually on to something all along?

    whoulda thunk it!

    Or, more truthfully, people who don't understand that certain words have very specific meanings in context claim to be super-smart because "they never believed it for a second".

    Basically a circle-jerk for contrarians - typical AH fodder really.


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  • #31
    AARRRGH
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,382 ✭✭✭✭AARRRGH


    phantom_lord wrote: »
    are you still insisting that the WHO is the "health industry" and had something to gain from inflating the threat about this disease?

    I never insisted the WHO were the health industry. That's something you made up.

    The WHO are part of the health industry.

    Go back and read my post and the story from the BBC. You've misread them.

    Stop trying to start an arguement.


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