H5N1 News: Branson snaps up 10,000 courses of Tamiflu
Bastard.
This is exactly the type of knee-jerk reaction that everyone, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and Roche, the Swiss maker of Tamiflu, was trying to avoid.
Martin Wolk writes in MSNBC News:
In a sign of growing travel industry concern about a possible global flu pandemic, Virgin Atlantic Chairman Richard Branson said Wednesday he had purchased 10,000 courses of medicine for the airline’s employees to use in the event of an outbreak.
At a news conference held in conjunction with a global health summit in New York, first reported on CNBC, Branson said he bought enough of the antiviral drug Tamiflu to treat up to 10,000 airline crew members, who he said would be on the front lines of any pandemic.
Branson had to buy the drug in Canada because manufacturer Hoffmann-La Roche has suspended shipments in the U.S. — precisely because it was concerned about such hoarding. One Canadian online pharmacy advertised a 10-pill course of Tamiflu Wednesday for C$80, which translates to $68 or a total of $680,000 in the unlikely event Branson paid retail.
posted by Fergie @ 11/02/2005 05:54:00 PM
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