NYT: U.S. Rejected Hen Vaccine Despite Success in Britain

[Poll_Blind]

"U.S. Rejected Hen Vaccine Despite Success in Britain"

Tell me if you had the same recurring realization I have too frequently for my comfort, now-a-days:

Faced with a crisis more than a decade ago in which thousands of people were sickened from salmonella in infected eggs, farmers in Britain began vaccinating their hens against the bacteria. That simple but decisive step virtually wiped out the health threat.

But when American regulators created new egg safety rules that went into effect last month, they declared that there was not enough evidence to conclude that vaccinating hens against salmonella would prevent people from getting sick. The Food and Drug Administration decided not to mandate vaccination of hens — a precaution that would cost less than a penny per a dozen eggs.

Now, consumers have been shaken by one of the largest egg recalls ever, involving nearly 550 million eggs from two Iowa producers, after a nationwide outbreak of thousands of cases of salmonella was traced to eggs contaminated with the bacteria.

And so on, and so on. The FDA says "If only our shitty, substandard tests were to go into effect sooner this problem could have been averted. The article goes on:

However, many industry experts say the absence of mandatory vaccination greatly weakens the F.D.A. rules, depriving them of a crucial step that could prevent future outbreaks.

Oh those industry experts, what do they know, eh? Or the Brits, right?

Anyway, my point isn't about the salmonella, though it sucks. It's the fact that yet again we're being fucked over for corporate profit so that, literally, a tiny additional profit can be made off the sale of a dozen eggs. According to the CDC, hundreds (at least) have been sickened. I can only guess at how many cases went unreported.

So, you know I keep an eye out for the Chinese and Mexican dollar-store jewelery (I'm a parent and my kids dig that sort of thing) because everybody knows they're probably using/painting with lead or cadmium. I mean, those bastards don't give a shit about us- they just wave goodbye to the truckloads of that shit as it heads to U.S. borders.

Oh, my little mini-realization? Well, it's not that the Chinese or Mexican companies that make toxic toys, for instance, really dislike us all that much. It's that we have shitty regulations on so much stuff that's sold. They just export it to the dumbasses who will import it.

And that's where government comes in, or should.

How can I even begin to get upset with some foreign corporation for dicking over the health of my kids to turn a buck when the goddamned FDA won't even lift its finger to instate a simple vaccine?

The fucking over of America has gotten so bad over the decades, especially since Reagan, it is tough to even try to get the scope of how strongly profits are stacked against our health.

Sometimes, when I ponder things like universal healthcare, for instance, in light of such realizations, it just all seems like a giant joke on the American people. I won't stop fighting but it does make me very sad, and especially sad for parents who want the best for their kids and an enjoyable America to grow up in.

PB