[CanadaSue]

This was bound to happen & I hope these people were injected with nothing more harmful than sterile saline. If you encounter small, 1 person clinics - ASK. The health you save may be someone else's. Not all stop to think it might be bogus:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1102177350353_52/?hub=TopStories

2 people - 2 separate cases of what are probably fake flu shots.

[EdPPCLI]

Just saw the report on CTV. It just amazes me how oblivious people are. Somone they don't know with no credentials is INJECTING something into their bodies. You called it weeks (months?) ago Sue. Part of me wants to scream about how stupid the human race has become but the evil part of me wants more of it to happen to clean out the gene pool. Just wait until it's Avian flu (not just the sniffles) you won't be able to walk down the street without someone trying to sell you the latest cocktail.

[CanadaSue]

at the college, it appears the woman set up shop in a setting generally used for vax - convenient that the regular staff were all out sick - what they're sick with is another question but...

the clinics we used here as a family were advertised through the public health unit & everyone had name tags & ID. I confirmed the location & timres of each clinic at the Public Health Unit's website first & in my case & my step daughter's saw the vial of vax for myself.

Now when shots are in short supply & people anxious to get them - the potential for abuse is huge. I can see it if H5N1 goes pandemic. In spite of LOADS of public statements by the press & health agencies that no vax is available - people will be offering 'vax' for gross amounts of money & people will be lining up & forking out. Heck. I can even give you the speils they'll use & vax won't be the only thing on offer. All that will accomplish will be to spread flu faster as people chase an non-existent asset.

A fool & his money...

[Potemkin]

I guess they would hate my guts.

I watch them open the syringe and draw from the bottle which I am reading real fast. No mystery pre-made injections for me.

What kind of fools are they?

[Arubi]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nurse's flu shots suspected of being fake turn out to be genuine


Canadian Press


December 5, 2004


LYNDEN, Wash. (CP) - A nurse's flu shots suspected of being fake have turned out to be real after all.

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration lab in Cincinnati determined that a vaccine sample provided by the woman was valid flu vaccine, Lynden police reported Saturday. The woman had sold flu shots at three Whatcom County grocery stores.

The FDA also reported that the sample was unadulterated and contained no toxins, Police Chief Jack Foster said in a statement.

The registered nurse who was questioned about the flu shot clinics has not been arrested or charged.

Sources said Saturday night police believe the woman may be from British Columbia.

Lynden police said once their investigation is complete, they will forward information to the Whatcom County prosecuting attorney's office for review.

Police tracked down the flu-shot clinic nurse after recipients of the vaccines reported they did not experience the usual stiffness and soreness associated with flu shots.

The woman, who was not identified, told police she ordered the Aventis Fluzone vaccine from a distributor over the Internet. Police said she provided a sample of the substance she said she had used, and this was sent to the FDA lab for analysis.

The woman set up flu clinics Nov. 5 at Cost Cutter stores in Lynden and Blaine, and Nov. 13 at the Lynden Food Pavilion, said Sue Cole, a spokeswoman with Brown and Cole, which owns the stores.

About 130 shoppers received the injections, each paying $30 US cash only, Cole said.

Cole said the woman had contacted store managers, saying she was affiliated with Visiting Nurse Personal Services or Pacific Medical Consulting and had just received some flu vaccine.

Brown and Cole became suspicious when officials learned that the nursing agency had no knowledge of the woman and they could find no record of Pacific Medical Consulting, police said.

The FDA, the state and Whatcom County health departments, and police in Blaine, Lummi and Everson were working with Lynden police on the investigation.

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis, a woman who gave what she said were flu shots to more than two dozen people, then fled when asked for information about her credentials, was arrested Friday, police said.

State health officials said they didn't know what was in the shots given to at least 28 people, but no one had reported any ill effects as of Friday. The shots were given Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at Augsburg College in Minneapolis.

"It is possible that it was flu vaccine, and it's also possible that it was saline. But we don't know," said Doug Schultz, a spokesman for the state Health Department.

Officers arrested the 33-year-old woman in Belgrade on suspicion of theft and drug possession, Minneapolis police spokesman Ron Reier said in a news release. Evidence was recovered, though police didn't provide details.

The college said in a statement that the woman claimed to be with the American Heart Association and was wearing green scrubs and a white lab coat. She left campus when asked for more information about her credentials, the school said.

The American Heart Association told the school the woman was not affiliated with the organization.

The college has asked anyone who received a shot from the woman to contact campus security and their own physician. Security workers sent e-mails to students, teachers and others on campus and posted signs on the doors of campus buildings after learning about the suspicious shots.

John Pack, the director of safety and security for Augsburg, said the woman charged $20 per shot and gave them near an area of the building where shots have been given in the past.

© The Canadian Press 2004

[CanadaSue]

I don't know what ossessed her or why she didn't go through whatever channels are necessary but it sure would have saved a lot of folks some serious worry for some hours.

In any case I do exactly the same thing Potemkin does - watch them draw up the material to be injected & make sure it's properly done. I also write down & take home the lot# of the vax. Hey I'M the client...

Please, never assume that you're getting what you're supposed to be getting - especially in a crisis. CHECK!