Shumlin condemns drug industry
By TRACY SCHMALER Vermont Press Bureau
MONTPELIER — A national shortage of vaccines for childhood diseases
provided some political ammunition Tuesday for the Democratic candidate for
lieutenant governor, who charged that the prescription drug industry was
trying to turn a profit at the expense of children’s health.
Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, suggested the industry
was lagging behind in producing vaccines because they were not as profitable
as so-called blockbuster drugs such as Viagra and Prilosec.
Shumlin made his comments in a news conference unveiling a legislative
resolution urging Congress and federal public health officials to
investigate the shortage of vaccines. He said Vermont’s children were being
denied or delayed shots for chicken pox, tetanus, measles, mumps and other
diseases.
“It’s time for folks to say ... enough is enough,” he said. “We need to
find out why the pharmaceutical industry is not producing the vaccines.”
Shumlin said he has heard from physicians in Vermont who claim
representatives from pharmaceutical companies have offered access to
hard-to-get vaccines, but only at a higher price. “What they’ve really done
is establish a system to ensure higher profits by getting access to people
who can pay,” Shumlin said.
Representatives from the pharmaceutical company dismissed Shumlin’s
charges. They said developing the vaccinations is more complicated than
creating new drugs, and the demand for newer vaccines has been higher than
expected. It also takes more time in part because vaccines involve the use
of biological organisms, viruses and bacteria.
“That is not what’s happening. We treat all our customers equally,” said
Doug Petkus, a spokesman for Wyeth, the company that manufacturers Prevnar,
a recently developed Pneumococcal vaccine administered to infants and
toddlers.
Petkus said the shortage with Prevnar had to do with the demand for the
vaccine and the need to make upgrades at the facility where the product is
developed.
Dr. Jack Mayer, a pediatrician from Middlebury, said he was recently
offered doses of Prevnar. Mayer said a pharmaceutical representative said
the vaccine was available through the company at a higher price than through
the Center for Disease Control.
“In my 27 years of practice in Vermont, I’ve never seen the American
immunization program in such disarray,” said Mayer, who joined Shumlin at
the news conference.
Petkus said he was aware of that claim and the company is looking into
whether its representative made such an offer
Mayer said he has had to scale back the recommended dose of four Prevnar
shots to two. Parents who come into his office for tetanus shots for their
children are told they can only obtain them if necessary from the local
emergency room.
“We can’t leave the health of our children to the free market,” Mayer
said. “It just doesn’t work.”
Ann Fingar, the state epidemiologist, said the Vermont Department of
Health issued recommendations to physicians in April suggesting they scaling
back the regimen for some vaccines, including the Pneumococcal vaccine.
“For the good of the general public these are recommendations based on
the national recommendations,” she said. “The idea is to maximally cover as
many children as possible in light of current supplies.”
Fingar said the shortages have been attributed to a combination of
factors, including the development of new vaccines that have been unable to
meet demand and the decision by some manufacturers to stop making them.
Still, she said, most of the vaccinations should be restored to adequate
supplies in the next several months.
Contact Tracy Schmaler at tracy.schmaler@rutlandherald.com.
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