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I'm inclined to believe it was taxpayers wasting taxpayer money. If the taxpayers are panicking about H1N1 and demand medicines, that's what the politicians wil

I'm inclined to believe it was taxpayers wasting taxpayer money. If the taxpayers are panicking about H1N1 and demand medicines, that's what the politicians will buy. The system works ;)

ekianjo 13y ago
You could look at it in other ways: - politicians control the media (more or less true). - media create the panic - people panic and ask for drugs - politicians buy the drugs and take massive kick backs in the process (certainly not unheard of), working with a single pharma company - people later discover it was all a scam
- sliverstorm 13y ago
  The public wants to panic. The public is a glutton for panic, we eat it right up. They don't have to manufacture panic.
  - ekianjo 13y ago
    Not always. It depends a lot on your culture, and how critical you are towards the media. In some countries people could not care less about that's said on TV.
    - sliverstorm 13y ago
      Ok, well the USA public at least.
  - bananas 13y ago
    I don't think they want it. It's flock behaviour. Panic is infectious. One person panics, everyone else follows. It didn't take long for people to realise they could artificially create the panic and profit from it.
- robmcm 13y ago
  I don't think H1N1 was a scam. You can argue it was exploited but not that it never existed.
  - ekianjo 13y ago
    It certainly existed, but the normal flu killed far more people that year than H1N1. Just like every year. So the phenomenon around H1N1 and the commercial implications for the companies involved is very close to what we refer as a scam. The risk of global killer Pandemic was grossly exaggerated for the benefit of a few.
    - robmcm 13y ago
      > It certainly existed, but the normal flu killed far more people that year than H1N1. Just like every year. Citation needed... The reason it was picked up by the WHO was based on statistical facts and evidence. It may have been promoted by news agencies and drug companies, but that was again based on statistics and what was researched in the early cases. If it was all total FUD and made sooo much money why aren't they doing this every year?

I'm inclined to believe it was taxpayers wasting taxpayer money. If the taxpayers are panicking about H1N1 and demand medicines, that's what the politicians will buy. The system works ;)

ekianjo 13y ago

You could look at it in other ways: - politicians control the media (more or less true). - media create the panic - people panic and ask for drugs - politicians buy the drugs and take massive kick backs in the process (certainly not unheard of), working with a single pharma company - people later discover it was all a scam

sliverstorm 13y ago
The public wants to panic. The public is a glutton for panic, we eat it right up. They don't have to manufacture panic.
- ekianjo 13y ago
  Not always. It depends a lot on your culture, and how critical you are towards the media. In some countries people could not care less about that's said on TV.
  - sliverstorm 13y ago
    Ok, well the USA public at least.
- bananas 13y ago
  I don't think they want it. It's flock behaviour. Panic is infectious. One person panics, everyone else follows. It didn't take long for people to realise they could artificially create the panic and profit from it.
robmcm 13y ago
I don't think H1N1 was a scam. You can argue it was exploited but not that it never existed.
- ekianjo 13y ago
  It certainly existed, but the normal flu killed far more people that year than H1N1. Just like every year. So the phenomenon around H1N1 and the commercial implications for the companies involved is very close to what we refer as a scam. The risk of global killer Pandemic was grossly exaggerated for the benefit of a few.
  - robmcm 13y ago
    > It certainly existed, but the normal flu killed far more people that year than H1N1. Just like every year. Citation needed... The reason it was picked up by the WHO was based on statistical facts and evidence. It may have been promoted by news agencies and drug companies, but that was again based on statistics and what was researched in the early cases. If it was all total FUD and made sooo much money why aren't they doing this every year?