A Stitch in Haste

Roche, the maker (i.e., the inventor and owner) of Tamiflu, the only prescription drug even remotely effective against the flu (including avian flu) will no longer ship the drug to the United States:

Roche said it had halted deliveries of the drug to pharmacists in the United States and Canada until the start of the flu season over concerns that consumers could deplete stocks by hoarding the drug at home.

"Our priority is to ensure that Tamiflu is available for seasonal use and to fulfil government orders," she added.

First of all, one wonders whether there might be just a hint of an ulterior motive in Roche's actions, namely the desire to thumb its nose (or fire a warning shot) at grandstanding American hack politicians who are trying to bully the company around. Other countries have already announced, without apology, their intention to steal the Tamiflu patent. Maybe Roche is flexing what muscle it has left on the world stage by reminding nations that, yes indeed, Tamiflu is both their intellectual and their physical property.

On the other hand, how sad that Roche seems to think there's something wrong with private citizens "hoarding" flu medicine, but nothing whatsoever wrong with governments doing the exact same thing. I can't keep two doses of Tamiflu in my medicine cabinet, but the U.K. is entitled to stockpile two doses of vaccine for every person in the country? That makes no sense.

What exactly is "hoarding" anyway? Am I, at this very moment "hoarding" aspirin, or toothpaste, or instant coffee, simply because I own more than I have an immediate and urgent need of? I guess "hoarding" is the new "price gouging."

We saw last year how the U.S. government completely disrupted the flu vaccine supply, finally imposing "voluntary" rationing only to end up with an unused surplus. Do we really need to reinvent that wheel with Tamiflu or this year's flu vaccine?

Roche is the most "Atlas Shrugged" company since Microsoft and Wal-Mart. Here is a firm with a product that has urgent value and no substitutes. The response of the world has not been gratitude, but rather condemnation and thievery. Hopefully Roche will maintain the moral high ground and remain unapologetic in their control of Tamiflu. If they don't, then the chilling effect on pharmaceutical research could be staggering.

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Meanwhile, the Senate has approved spending $8 billion to stockpile flu drugs in anticipation of an avian flu outbreak in the U.S.

I ask again -- why is it "stockpiling" when the federal government buys millions of doses of Tamiflu in advance, but "hoarding" when I try to buy two?