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OPINION: Don't force medical pros to get H1N1 vaccine
Newsday ^ | GEORGE J. ANNAS

Posted on 10/06/2009 9:49:11 AM PDT by nickcarraway

The New York State Health Commissioner's new mandate that all health care workers be vaccinated against both the seasonal and the swine flu this fall could qualify as the major public health blunder of the year, because it is likely to backfire.

Flu has been rightly characterized as a "slippery disease" that can mutate quickly and unpredictably, which means that planning for flu epidemics must be flexible and should be reviewed regularly as evidence of disease spread and severity accumulates.

We are already experiencing the beginning of a second wave of swine flu, the 2009 H1N1 influenza. Effective response will require cooperation of the public, and such cooperation (in actions such as getting vaccinated, social distancing and staying home when sick) will happen only if the public trusts its health officials.

Surveys have noted an erosion in public trust of government officials, but continued confidence in physicians and nurses. In this context, persuasion based on science, ethics and prudence, not on legal threats, should be the mandatory course of action for public health officials.

Physicians and nurses, educated and licensed professionals, dedicated to their patients' health and welfare, do have an ethical obligation to take all reasonable steps to protect their patients. During a threatened flu pandemic, like swine flu, this includes, I think, getting a swine flu vaccination.

So why not require vaccination if they refuse? There are at least four reasons.

The first is symbolic: The practice of medicine (and nursing) is a voluntary one based on informed choice - and will hopefully remain this way. Forcing physicians and nurses to become unconsenting patients - even for a flu shot - undermines the consensual nature of the health care relationship, and at least suggests that if health care professionals can be forced to take a vaccination for the

(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: flu; force; h1n1; influenza; medical; swineflu; vaccine
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1 posted on 10/06/2009 9:49:11 AM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway
My solution...I'd leave NYC....Like everyone else with a brain is thinking about doing.

It ain't gonna get better.

2 posted on 10/06/2009 9:56:47 AM PDT by Earthdweller (Harvard won the election again...so what's the problem.......?)
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To: nickcarraway
Ok, real simple, 7.365 , remember that number.

How?

"7 days a week 365 days a year" , that's how.

Nothing bad can live in your blood if ph is kept close to this mark.

How?

Garlic oil capsules, that's how.

That reminds me I'm going to one now.

If I'm thrust into a crowd of sicko's, I take one every couple of hours.

Yeah, you'll prolly burp it up a bit, but it beats being sick.

3 posted on 10/06/2009 9:58:15 AM PDT by norraad ("What light!">Blues Brothers)
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To: norraad

Hmmmm....maybe that’s why my husband got the flu this summer, and I did not....I take garlic.....HMMMMM.


4 posted on 10/06/2009 10:00:36 AM PDT by goodnesswins (Democrat party has always been the party of slavery, sedition, subversion, socialism and surrender)
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To: Earthdweller

It’s the WHOLE state! The mandate is statewide. The company I work for is HQ’d in MA - I’m just waiting for them to decide what I must do... Apparently working with the sniffles isn’t an option this year...


5 posted on 10/06/2009 10:07:44 AM PDT by RebelTXRose
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To: goodnesswins

My brother-in-law roasts garlic on the bbq - it’s awesome...


6 posted on 10/06/2009 10:09:07 AM PDT by RebelTXRose
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To: goodnesswins
Yeah, it's all pretty simple.

But simple does not equal immoral profit.

Enter corpo/gov/medical collaboration.

These evil creeps will never tell you the simple fix.

That sucks.

7 posted on 10/06/2009 10:14:47 AM PDT by norraad ("What light!">Blues Brothers)
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To: norraad
Oregano Essential Oil (I get mine at YoungLiving) works well also. Here's more on Oil of Oregano. I shut down an extremely nasty sore throat in just twelve hours with the stuff.
8 posted on 10/06/2009 10:15:58 AM PDT by mlizzy ("It is impossible to walk rapidly and be unhappy" --Mother Teresa of Calcutta.)
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To: norraad

I’m Italian. I have aunts that are in their 90’s. One of them still works and takes trips to Vegas..


9 posted on 10/06/2009 10:49:53 AM PDT by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
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To: nickcarraway

Hmmm, yet, if someone in your family dies from the swine flu that they caught from their nurse or doctor because the nurse or doctor opted out of the vaccine, would we then have to listen to posters here decry how incompetent and unprepared the medical establishment was?

Seems like they’re danged if they do and danged if they don’t.


10 posted on 10/06/2009 10:58:40 AM PDT by Owl558 ("Those who remember George Satayana are doomed to repeat him")
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To: massgopguy

Yep Italians and Phillipinos seem to out live us all. (sure must be a few other blood lines with longevity)

Which reminds me time to go chop some fresh basil and garlic and get my sauce going. : )

(no I am not Italian)


11 posted on 10/06/2009 11:31:43 AM PDT by Global2010 (Strange We Can Believe In)
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To: nickcarraway

If I go to the hospital, and get the flu from one of my healthcare workers, I will sue them.

I’m not alone.

Yes, healthcare workers need to be vaccinated, or quit.


12 posted on 10/06/2009 11:57:45 AM PDT by Theo (May Rome decrease and Christ increase.)
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To: Owl558

How would they determine that? They aren’t even testing people for the swine flu anymore. At least, they’re not testing people here. The VIRUS went through Tucson rather quickly in the Spring. It’s hitting again right now, infecting those who missed out earlier in the year. Our household was ill with it before it became the thing. Should we have the vaccine? Should the nurses/doctors who’ve already had the VIRUS take the vaccine?


13 posted on 10/06/2009 12:08:13 PM PDT by petitfour (Are you a Dead Fish American?)
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To: Theo

If I were working, and they insisted I get vaccinated with THIS vaccine, I would refuse and quit.

Try to prove in a suit who gave you what virus with a virus that is transmitted in the air.

See if you can find some safety data on the Swine Flu vaccine and then compare it to the safety data of other vaccines and look at how long the FDA insists recepients of vaccine are followed for reactions.


14 posted on 10/06/2009 12:22:11 PM PDT by HonestConservative (Go here for FR Nat'l Convention and Tea Party Video http://vigilantsquirrelbrigade.blogspot.com)
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To: petitfour

I’m sorry, but your response doesn’t really answer my question. I’m not advocating a position to vaccinate or not to vaccinate. Nor was I inquiring about the current state of H1N1 anti-bodies in your family (Obviously, anyone testing positive for anti-bodies is already immune, but you say Arizona is no longer testing, so how can you know without being tested?).

I’m asking that if you were to lose someone to a non-vaccinated medical worker (implying that you can show this to be the case), would you then complain about the medical establishment and sue?

I think most people would, including me. I think you would too.


15 posted on 10/06/2009 1:30:26 PM PDT by Owl558 ("Those who remember George Satayana are doomed to repeat him")
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To: Owl558

My experience is that sick health care workers do not deal with very sick patients in hospitals. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but we’ve had doctors postpone procedures because of their own illness(es). It would have been neglectful for them to do surgery while contagious.

Would we sue a doctor/nurse/health care facility that knowingly had sick workers dealing with patients? It depends on the illness. Swine flu is a short lived virus. TB or hepatitis or AIDS would be another story.


16 posted on 10/06/2009 1:50:04 PM PDT by petitfour (Are you a Dead Fish American?)
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To: norraad

Oh brother...........


17 posted on 10/06/2009 3:46:28 PM PDT by Osage Orange (A community organizer cannot bitch when communities organize..... - Rush Limbaugh)
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To: Theo
What the heck????

Are you insane????

18 posted on 10/06/2009 3:47:51 PM PDT by Osage Orange (A community organizer cannot bitch when communities organize..... - Rush Limbaugh)
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To: norraad

How about fresh garlic? Wouldn’t that work just as well?


19 posted on 10/06/2009 3:56:19 PM PDT by XenaLee
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To: nickcarraway

As a nurse I WILL NOT take the H1N1 shot this year. It is too new and too untested. I am not sure that a) it will work and b) it is safe.

The goobermint, and my employer if necessary, can kiss my @ss.


20 posted on 10/06/2009 4:01:31 PM PDT by clee1 (We use 43 muscles to frown, 17 to smile, and 2 to pull a trigger. I'm lazy and I'm tired of smiling.)
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