> Doctors know this and are reluctant to prescribe it -- since they know it is in short supply and critical populations should get it first. Ironically, doctors

> Doctors know this and are reluctant to prescribe it -- since they know it is in short supply and critical populations should get it first. Ironically, doctors reluctance to prescribe it - actually reduces the supply. Yet during the swine flu scare, Roche handed out massive amounts of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) like it was candy to their employees (at least at the SF Genentech campuses). You'd call into a doctor, who would do nothing but verify your identity and issue a prescription. You'd then pick up the drugs on campus. Unfortunately pretty typical for Roche-Genentech, which is prone to fairly disgusting levels of spending on excesses.