New Jersey Pharmacists, and Basement Tamiflu

...And a sneak-peak into the future of American medical treatment under ObamaCare!

So - The government becomes the largest purchaser of swine flu vaccinations and medications - so that it can be distributed fairly, of course and after all, who better then the government to manage what they deem as an epidemic - and what happens?

In late October, the government released its remaining 234,000 doses of liquid Tamiflu from a national stockpile. More supplies from Roche, the manufacturer, aren’t expected until next month.

Greaaaat. You've declared a H1N1 pandemic - good for you! - but you can't even get the inventory right on the most effective medications available to treat and prevent it. Sure, you've got the capsules, but that really doesn't work too well with the young ones, does it?

So what are they doing in Jersey? Well, it's back to the mortar and pestle:

Pharmacists in New Jersey and across the country are dealing with the shortage of pre-bottled liquid Tamiflu by creating their own compound for the formula using Tamiflu capsules and sweet syrup.

To paraphrase Helen Lovejoy, I guess they just didn't think of the children:

The neighborhood pharmacy in Warren County has filled dozens of prescriptions for liquid Tamiflu in the last few weeks, including those for parents of children at an area school that registered a case of H1N1, Eberle said.

Children are at higher risk for catching H1N1 and developing serious complications. Since April, 540 children nationwide have died from the H1N1 virus, according to the CDC. Another 15 children have died from a non-specific flu virus.

On average, between 50 and 100 children die from seasonal flu each year.

So kids are dying at a rate 5x higher than during a "normal" flu season, and the government -now responsible for our children's heath - drops the ball on the meds.

But the government can fix it,too! Call in the USFDA ! They'll fight back by...suspending their own safety rules!

Because the H1N1 virus qualifies as a national health emergency, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for Tamiflu, relaxing some of the prescription rules and allowing some expired but still effective products to be used.

Great. The government screws up the Tamiful order, kids are dying at an alarmingly high rate, and their solution is to jerry-rig a solution with expired pills.

I do trust my pharmacist - sometimes more than the doctor - and I'm sure she wouldn't create a concoction she thought was dangerous. Still, am I wrong to find this a somewhat alarming situation?

Well, I'm sure once they take over complete control of the entire health care system, the government will do a much better job...