Flu shots?

[jinx]

FDA denies knowing of Chiron suspension.

[Elspode]

I got a flu shot once. Two days later, I swear to the Gods that I got the worst case of the flu I've ever had.

I know they say it doesn't happen, but it sure happened to me big time. Heck of a coincidence.

[tw]

American drug companies say that the domestic cost of drugs must be double and sometimes as much as quadruple the price of Canada so that we have better quality drugs. But look where the drugs are made - Ireland and in this case Britian. Chiron is not subject to direct American inspections when flu shots are made overseas. So it is better to get your flu shos and drugs in Canada where the same drugs are cheaper? No says George Jr who just passed laws making it illegal to get perscriptions fill in Canada. Canada, he says, does not have sufficient quality drugs. Explain Chiron and Viagra - made overseas and not subject to direct FDA inspections.

Another question is how long these Chiron vaccinations have been contaminated.

[jinx]

Originally Posted by tw

Chiron is not subject to direct American inspections when flu shots are made overseas.

American companies like Wyeth and Merk (where Dr. Offit works) don't have such hot safety records either;

Marietta, Pa.

Feb. 14, 2000

Less than three weeks later, Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, which produces more than a third of the nation's flu vaccine, dropped a bombshell: It was shutting down the last stages of production indefinitely.

The announcement came just three days before FDA investigators Marsha Major,

David Hafner and Jim Evans completed an exhaustive, three-month inspection of the company's vaccine manufacturing plant in Marietta, Pa.

Spelled out in arcane detail over 24 pages, their findings capped almost five years of sniping between agency regulators and the mammoth pharmaceutical firm.

The FDA had been pressing Wyeth since August 1995 to improve conditions at Marietta. Two warning letters were issued. A meeting between top regulators and Wyeth-Ayerst officials was held. And yet, company resistance to the agency's touchstone Current Good Manufacturing Practices persisted.

On Nov. 3, 1999, Major, Hafner and Evans began their inspection at the Marietta plant. In more than 40 visits, they uncovered scores of possible violations involving a variety of products, from suspect inspection reports on rotavirus vaccine to lax testing of smallpox vaccine.

They found that when vials containing the flu vaccine mysteriously cracked and exposed the contents to possible contamination, the company proceeded to ship vials that looked unbroken - even though, said the inspectors, the cracks could not always be discovered by sight and the problem had not yet been explained.

Batches of flu vaccine that initially failed certain tests were retested numerous times, said the FDA, and the results were averaged to obtain passing grades. Disinfectants used to kill germs in sterile areas were ineffective against even common bacteria, the agency noted. And when excessive "microorganisms" appeared in the plant's air, the company failed to investigate properly, according to the FDA's February 17 inspection report.

[dar512]

I didn't realize this was a resurrection of an old thread so I read through from the beginning. I got a good chuckle out of it. Els. Look at your post #29 in this thread posted last November and #37 from yesterday. Must have been a really nasty flu to stick out in your mind like that.

[Kitsune]

Holy hell, did I just go through the worst "mini-flu" I've ever had. Its systematically spreading quickly in my area and is affecting everyone, but it only knocks most people out for about 30 hours, total. I had a fever set in that topped out at 103.5F (!) and stayed there for around five hours. In terms of aches and pains, I felt like someone had thrown me to the ground and kicked every inch of my body -- getting out of bed wasn't possible. I haven't had an illness that disabling in quite a number of years.

Still, one day of that was better than the three days of crappy-feeling I get from a usual flu shot.

[Elspode]

Originally Posted by dar512

I didn't realize this was a resurrection of an old thread so I read through from the beginning. I got a good chuckle out of it. Els. Look at your post #29 in this thread posted last November and #37 from yesterday. Must have been a really nasty flu to stick out in your mind like that.

Almost a year ago...I'd totally forgotten! Yeah, it was nasty. The worst ever, seriously.