Obama declares swine flu a national emergency

[rich8483]

what are the actual results of him declaring it an emergency? what laws will get bypassed? what new laws possible made? other than mandantory vac. with im totally not getting.

[rambone]

Scary times...

Obama declares swine flu a national emergency

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has declared 2009 H1N1swine flu a national emergency, the White House said on Saturday.

The declaration will make it easier for U.S. medical facilities to handle a surge in flu patients by allowing the waiver of some requirements of Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health insurance programs as needed, the White House said in a statement.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday that swine flu has become widespread in 46 of the 50 U.S. states, a level comparable to the peak of ordinary flu seasons but far earlier and with more waves of infection expected.

Obama signed the statement on Friday night.

The White House statement said the declaration was intended to prepare the country in case of "a rapid increase in illness that may overburden health care resources." It was similar to disaster declarations issued before hurricanes hit coastal areas.

"It's important to note that this is a proactive measure -- not a response to a new development," an administration official said.

"H1N1 is moving rapidly, as expected. By the time regions or healthcare systems recognize they are becoming overburdened, they need to implement disaster plans quickly," he said.

Seasonal flu normally peaks sometime between late November and early March and kills about 36,000 Americans in an average year.

Swine flu has hit young adults and children the hardest, while seasonal flu normally is more dangerous for people over age 65.

H1N1, declared a public health emergency earlier in the year, has killed more than 1,000 people in the United States and put more than 20,000 in the hospital since it emerged earlier this year, the CDC said. But health officials are quick to note that the actual number of cases cannot be measured.

The new declaration clears the way for waivers of federal requirements that, for example, could prevent hospitals from establishing off-site, alternate care facilities that could help them deal with emergency department demands, the White House said.

The Health and Human Services Department is trying to deliver vaccines against H1N1 but says production is falling short of projections because companies are having trouble making them.

HHS has also moved to make available stockpiles of antiviral drugs oseltamivir, made by Roche AG under the brand name Tamiflu, and zanamivir, an inhaled drug made by GlaxoSmithKline under the brand name Relenza.

On Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for an experimental new drug called peramivir, made by Biocryst Pharmaceuticals Inc and licensed to Shionogi & Co Ltd.

The authorization allows the intravenous drug to be used in hospitalized patients who cannot take pills or inhale Relenza or when Tamiflu or Relenza do not seem to be helping.

[SavageEagle]

So where's this declaration that I can read for myself?

[mrjarrell]

Originally Posted by SavageEagle

So where's this declaration that I can read for myself?

You might check Whitehouse.gov. I don't go by there myself, because they set cookies and I hate having to dig through them to excise theirs.

[djl02]

When one of your kids or grandkids die from it,then lets see what you post.

[SavageEagle]

Originally Posted by mrjarrell

You might check Whitehouse.gov. I don't go by there myself, because they set cookies and I hate having to dig through them to excise theirs.

I did and there's NOTHING there. Now I gotta weed through my cookies for nothing...

Originally Posted by djl02

When one of your kids or grandkids die from it,then lets see what you post.

This is mindless babble. Just because someone's kid dies from this doesn't mean it's an emergency and we should all be vaccinated and what not. If my daughter had died from it it would have been because of her immune problems or because of the drugs. Fortunately, I didn't give her drugs and put her on vitamins and OJ and she was over it in three days from the day she was diagnosed and we started giving it to her.

This is not an emergency and we have FAR greater things to worry about than the flu. Get over it.

[jeremy]

Originally Posted by djl02

When one of your kids or grandkids die from it,then lets see what you post.

The common influenza strain is more deadly than H1N1... Do some research before you make crass statements. Thank you!

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by jeremy

The common influenza strain is more deadly than H1N1... Do some research before you make crass statements. Thank you!

Thinking for themselves? Ack, no way sound-bytes from the talking heads is much easier.

[oldfb]

Reality check?
Either the Gov't knows and isn't telling how serious this swine flu threat really is or they have no clue and are taking any action they see fit in order to appear effective.
Possibly they are using this to force us into the cattle chute that leads to more erosions of our freedom in an earnest effort to protect or dupe the American public.

The reality is we will probably never know the truth. Since rarely are the ones with evil intentions standing up and waving a sign declaring their agendas.
The truly crazies like Manson or sociopathic may confess after being caught but until then there is only fear, confusion, conjecture or speculation.

Doing Vitamins and OJ or chicken soup might help but in reality the old thoughts of it not hurting are arguementative at best.

My Webfu sucks. I could not find the article for this so please if anyone remembers or can site this it will be appreciated.

The current course of our business and country has been set for decades. In the early 90's several tankers carrying OJ concentrate were suspect after consumption because of improper tank washing prior to re-loading after carrying a highly carcinogenic load. In the transportation industry it was/is common practice to hotwash tankers after each run prior to reload.
It is entirely dependent on the ethics of all involved to ensure that the proper procedures are followed to maintain saferty. Who trusts the $8/hr kid to stand up to his boss when the waterheater breaks during a high volume day at the tank washer?
Who trusts the $4/hr kid at the burger stop to follow all sanitation procedures when making your food? The USDA inspectors to ensure the food is safe?

The reality is that this is our plight because of the American Dream.
We want it all: fair prices, high profits, safety, health, wealth...

Sadly since none can agree on which is the priority, all of it suffers at the whims of each level.
CEO or Fry Guy at the burger shop are each likely to kill you out of contempt or ignorance.

[Agent 007]

The swine flu has killed 1000 people in the US, so far. Each year the REGULAR FLU kills over 36,000 people.

Regular flu has killed thousands since January - CNN.com <---CLICK

So what makes the swine flu an "emergency?" Remember when bird flu was going to kill us all? Now it's swine flu.