75 percent of Tamiflu cost falls on states
U.S. signs deal to stockpile anti-bird-flu drug
But 75 percent of Tamiflu cost falls on states
Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer
Saturday, July 1, 2006
Federal health authorities have signed a two-year deal to help states buy more than half a billion dollars worth of the antiviral drug Tamiflu as a hedge against a pandemic of deadly avian influenza, but there is a catch: States will have to pay for three-quarters of it.
The Bush administration announced late Friday that it had contracted with Swiss drugmaker Roche Laboratories Inc. to supply Tamiflu for stockpiles in all 50 states.
"Helping states develop their own medical stockpiles will facilitate quicker distribution of antiviral drugs in the event of a pandemic influenza outbreak," said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt.
The federal government, meanwhile, plans to build its own centralized stockpile. The plan is to have enough antiviral drug in state and federal warehouses by December 2008 to treat 81 million people.
"Our ultimate goal is to stockpile sufficient quantities of antiviral drugs to treat 25 percent of the U.S. population," Leavitt said.
Tamiflu is considered by scientists to be the first line of defense against the H5N1 strain of bird flu. The disease is currently confined primarily to chickens, ducks and some wild waterfowl, but researchers fear it could mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans.
That hasn't happened yet, but for the few humans who have caught it directly from birds, H5N1 has been lethal. The World Health Organization has logged 205 cases since December 2003, and more than half of those patients died.
Under terms of the deal negotiated with Roche by the Department of Health and Human Services, the states can order up to 31 million packets of Tamiflu -- each containing a 10-pill course of treatment -- for a total cost of $596 million over the next two years.
The federal government will subsidize only 25 percent of the cost, so that if states order all the drug they can under the plan, their share will come to $447 million, and the federal share will be $149 million.
But whether all states will be able to come up with that kind of money remains to be seen. The price tag has not been an issue in Sacramento. "California is going for all that is available," said Betsey Lyman, deputy director of Public Health Emergency Preparedness in the Department of Health Services.
The budget signed Friday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger allots $53 million for the state's order of 3.7 million treatments -- all that it is eligible to buy. Still unanswered, Lyman said, is exactly when the state can expect to have the pills delivered. "We've not seen a solid date," she said.
The giant pill order for states comes in addition to plans by the federal government to build its own stockpile of Tamiflu -- paid for solely by federal funds. Currently, that "strategic stockpile" has only 6.2 million packets, but the goal is to bring that to 21 million by year's end.
The Bush administration has insisted since it released its pandemic flu plan in November that states would have to share part of the financial burden of building drug stockpiles.
Ultimately, the plan calls for two types of federal stockpiles -- 6 million doses that can be shipped anywhere in an emergency, and 44 million that will be allotted to states in proportion to their population size.
The state stockpiles are being set up in addition to these federal caches. Ultimately, both California and the United States should have enough antiviral drugs on hand to treat a quarter of the population -- presuming that avian influenza does not break out in the human population before the 2008 target.
Although the stockpiles will be filled primarily with Tamiflu, they will also stock smaller amounts of a similar drug, Relenza, which is inhaled in a powdered form like some asthma medications. The federal government expects to have purchased enough Relenza for its stockpile to treat 3.9 million people by year's end.
The federal government also is allotting $162 million to purchase medical supplies to be stockpiled in case of a flu pandemic. This year it plans to buy 6,000 ventilator machines and 100 million masks known as N95 respirators -- which may be worn by coughing patients to reduce the spread of infectious particles.
E-mail Sabin Russell at srussell@sfchronicle.com.
Page A - 5
©2006 San Francisco Chronicle
But 75 percent of Tamiflu cost falls on states
Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer
Saturday, July 1, 2006
Federal health authorities have signed a two-year deal to help states buy more than half a billion dollars worth of the antiviral drug Tamiflu as a hedge against a pandemic of deadly avian influenza, but there is a catch: States will have to pay for three-quarters of it.
The Bush administration announced late Friday that it had contracted with Swiss drugmaker Roche Laboratories Inc. to supply Tamiflu for stockpiles in all 50 states.
"Helping states develop their own medical stockpiles will facilitate quicker distribution of antiviral drugs in the event of a pandemic influenza outbreak," said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt.
The federal government, meanwhile, plans to build its own centralized stockpile. The plan is to have enough antiviral drug in state and federal warehouses by December 2008 to treat 81 million people.
"Our ultimate goal is to stockpile sufficient quantities of antiviral drugs to treat 25 percent of the U.S. population," Leavitt said.
Tamiflu is considered by scientists to be the first line of defense against the H5N1 strain of bird flu. The disease is currently confined primarily to chickens, ducks and some wild waterfowl, but researchers fear it could mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans.
That hasn't happened yet, but for the few humans who have caught it directly from birds, H5N1 has been lethal. The World Health Organization has logged 205 cases since December 2003, and more than half of those patients died.
Under terms of the deal negotiated with Roche by the Department of Health and Human Services, the states can order up to 31 million packets of Tamiflu -- each containing a 10-pill course of treatment -- for a total cost of $596 million over the next two years.
The federal government will subsidize only 25 percent of the cost, so that if states order all the drug they can under the plan, their share will come to $447 million, and the federal share will be $149 million.
But whether all states will be able to come up with that kind of money remains to be seen. The price tag has not been an issue in Sacramento. "California is going for all that is available," said Betsey Lyman, deputy director of Public Health Emergency Preparedness in the Department of Health Services.
The budget signed Friday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger allots $53 million for the state's order of 3.7 million treatments -- all that it is eligible to buy. Still unanswered, Lyman said, is exactly when the state can expect to have the pills delivered. "We've not seen a solid date," she said.
The giant pill order for states comes in addition to plans by the federal government to build its own stockpile of Tamiflu -- paid for solely by federal funds. Currently, that "strategic stockpile" has only 6.2 million packets, but the goal is to bring that to 21 million by year's end.
The Bush administration has insisted since it released its pandemic flu plan in November that states would have to share part of the financial burden of building drug stockpiles.
Ultimately, the plan calls for two types of federal stockpiles -- 6 million doses that can be shipped anywhere in an emergency, and 44 million that will be allotted to states in proportion to their population size.
The state stockpiles are being set up in addition to these federal caches. Ultimately, both California and the United States should have enough antiviral drugs on hand to treat a quarter of the population -- presuming that avian influenza does not break out in the human population before the 2008 target.
Although the stockpiles will be filled primarily with Tamiflu, they will also stock smaller amounts of a similar drug, Relenza, which is inhaled in a powdered form like some asthma medications. The federal government expects to have purchased enough Relenza for its stockpile to treat 3.9 million people by year's end.
The federal government also is allotting $162 million to purchase medical supplies to be stockpiled in case of a flu pandemic. This year it plans to buy 6,000 ventilator machines and 100 million masks known as N95 respirators -- which may be worn by coughing patients to reduce the spread of infectious particles.
E-mail Sabin Russell at srussell@sfchronicle.com.
Page A - 5
©2006 San Francisco Chronicle
posted by Walking Contradiction at 7/03/2006 02:39:00 AM
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