I believe we are due a refund.

[cornermouse]

The company that sent out the flu virus by mistake during a tracking study really should be forced to bear the entire cost of the study and recovery of the virus.

I am tired of the special circumstances and "understanding" that is regularly extended to corporations and withheld from private individuals. Since corporations are now granted the same standing as individuals, they should also be given the same trials and penalties that individuals would receive if they made a potentially lethal mistake.

[Swamp Rat]

1. Are we sure it was a mistake?

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. MIHOP some of us suspect

[Hekate]

3. One wonders, doesn't one?

Dr. Julie Gerberding succeeds in coming across like a Bush appointee: "Nothing to see here folks, move along."

So it was refreshing to see another woman (sorry I didn't catch her name, but she's plump and has a mop of brown curly hair) be so blunt and honest in interviews today (Wednesday). She told Ted Koppel that newspapers in other countries are asking "What the heck is going on in the United States?!" I wish Koppel had followed up on that comment, but he didn't. She did, however, end the interview by saying there really is something to worry about -- for instance: there are 6.5 billion folks in the world, and the very best supply of flu vaccine the world has been able to create up til now is 300 million.

Anyhow, mistakes happen, but this was a doozy, the equivalent of being asleep at the switch or otherwise operating heavy equipment in a demonstrably unsafe manner. Just for a change, someone ought to lose their job.

Furthermore, I find it fascinating that early Tuesday the number of labs said to have received this package of flu was around 3,500. This morning it was 4,000, and by this evening 5,000.

Yes indeed, what is happening here?

Hekate

[screembloodymurder]

4. 20,000,000 potential victims!

Negligence is terror. I say jail time for corporate incompetence. If one of us had endangered a single life, we would be up on charges for reckless endangerment.

[ElectricIron Sweeney]

5. The only two places

Where incompetence, irresponsibility, and criminal negligence are accepted is in government and business.