Redstate

Vaccine manufacturers, like most providers in the medical industry, have very limited pricing power.  They can charge whatever they want but the reality is that they will only get what their buyers are willing to pay.  In the case of this kind of vaccine (for this situation) the only buyer of consequence is the US Government.  The government stipulates what they are willing to pay for each dose of vaccine and that's pretty much all they're going to get.  This price may be so low that the profit margin vs. risk tradeoff just isn't there  - After all if Glaxo made this vaccine and had some terrible liability verdict its repurcussions would wouldn't just be against the vaccine manufacturing division - it would negatively affect their entire operation including those drugs that had nothing to do with the vaccine in question.  That adds an awful lot of risk to the calculations here.

Another point: both of these manufacturers are offshore (one in France and one in the UK) - in the economics of tort is it just as easy to file a lawsuit and get damages from such companies or are there additional hurdles that must be overcome, and thereby push the more frivolous lawsuits that would inevitably be filed against a US manufacturer out of the running?

Anyhoo, Drudge is currently linking to a story about Los Angeles County's Measure A. Near the end, it has this:

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich... said local leaders are increasingly forced to divert funds from public safety programs to keep the public health system afloat in a state where seven emergency rooms have gone bust in the past year. He blames the latest wave of aliens coming across the Mexican border, uninsured and unable to pay for their health care, for stressing the health system to the breaking point as well as fueling gang crime...

Even if the flu season this year is moderate, expect those same illegal aliens to flood emergency rooms. If the flu is bad, it could cause a major crisis. I have no specific knowledge of health care management, so hopefully some brave reporter somewhere will tie these two things together and wonder why our politicians continue to allow massive illegal immigration and where we should send the bill.

I'm not saying you are wrong about illegal immigration or that it isn't a problem. However, without trying to be rude, you are coming across very trollish in tying any and every topic to illegal immigration. I expect this sort of behavior out of Wilson97, but this is new from you. What is wrong with posting in your diary?

If you did, this would be a concern. It doesn't have much to do with the underlying reason why there's a vaccine shortage, but it certainly has a lot to do with the effects.

Many of my posts are certainly about illegal immigration because a) very few other people are willing to bring up the subject and b) it touches many other facets of our lives. Once again, in California it's a big issue. One of the main reasons Gray Davis lost his job was because he signed a law giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, so one might assume it's a key issue for many people.

However, many of my other comments concern things like terrorism and the Iraq war, such as that 40+ reply thing I posted a couple days ago. If you don't like something I post or some particular subject I post on, please just keep a-scrolling.

Like I said, I didn't say illegal immigration wasn't an important issue or that you are necessarily wrong in your stance. What I am opposed to is the "this article is about SwiftVets (or other topic) yet I am going to work in an immigration post just because I please to do so" off topic have nothing to do with the discussion at hand posts.

I know you post on other topics which is why I am trying to give you the BOD here, and why I am asking the question. What I am saying, and I think the big guys around here would agree, is that something completely off topic should be posted either as a new diary or to an article that is on topic with your post. You come off as a troll when you turn a diary about Arnold and stem cell research into a "Bush is letting Mexicans in by droves" bashing session. That is what I am saying. Telling others to ignore the troll is not a sufficient answer, IMO.

Well, let's see. Why would "Bush is letting Mexicans in by droves" be relevant to a discussion of why the GOP shouldn't like Arnold and of Arnold proposing spending $3 billion on stem cells?

Because Arnold no doubt does not like being called a Nazi. Yet, for the reasons stated in the other thread, that's what he was more or less called. And, much of that reason is due to GOP policies. So, while there are reasons for the GOP not to like Arnold or his policies, there are also good reasons for Arnold not to like the GOP's policies.

And, when are infrastructure is crumbling because of one specific reason, some people might consider it important to point out that perhaps we should not be spending $3 billion on something that's pretty much optional.

Let me give you an example. Largely because of the Reason That May Not Be Named, L.A. County has lost half its trauma centers in the past two decades. And, as pointed out above, we've lost seven emergency rooms this year. At the same time, Arnold wants to spend $3 billion on a health-related issue that would seem to be less pressing than, for instance, more trauma centers or emergency rooms.

Only a fool - or the L.A. Times - would ignore the root causes of emergency room closures. And, likewise, as I pointed out above, SoCal might be particularly hard hit by a flu problem because of the problems mentioned above.

Now, perhaps I should provide more intro material rather than assuming that most people understand these underlying issues and the backstory.

Well, let's see. Why would "Bush is letting Mexicans in by droves" be relevant to a discussion of why the GOP shouldn't like Arnold and of Arnold proposing spending $3 billion on stem cells?

Well, let's see. It wasn't about "GOP not liking Arnold and vice versa" until you brought it up. Connecting immigration to stem cell research because they both cost money is like saying prostitution and cars are the same topic because they both involve money. Regardless of the backstory, it is a tenuous connection at best. I've already gone over all that, so I'll leave it be.

The other post seemed to be about RINO Arnold not being the true face of the GOP of the future. I provided some backstory about possible conflicts between Bush and Arnold.

As for the money, as you may or may not know, California had and has a budget crisis.

So, when a state only has a finite amount of money, a discussion of where one spends that money is quite a bit relevant.

Connecting cars or prostitution to stem cell research would have some relevance if cars or prostitution cost us billions of dollars each year. And, it would have relevance to the national scene if the money we spent on cars or prostitution was because of federal policies or lack of enforcement of same.

Pejman -

Thanks for the link to this article, it was very interesting.

Question for you -- what's the right amount of regulation for manufacturing vaccines?  What part of the current regulation is excessive?

Thanks -