3 ms·

How the U.S. Screwed Up in the Fight Against Ebola

• bayesianhorse 12y ago
  "The federal government does not know how to write a check". --- Well, actually it is very very easy for a government to write a check. Except that in the US, it has been made so extremely hard for them, that stuff like space travel, general and medical research just doesn't get funded quickly enough. These regulations have their merits, but the downsides are hardly ever discussed when people want to stop federal overspending...
• ctdonath 12y ago
  "why were there so few doses [of ZMapp] on hand?" Don't underestimate how hard it can be to make medicines, especially novel new ones for rare ailments.
  • drivingmenuts 12y ago
    That's a rather loaded question. It assumes that the drug is well-tested and is considered a cure, rather than an experiment. Furthermore, while ebola has always been a concern, the current outbreak is without precedent, so no major preparations were in place. Yeah, it sucks that there's not enough ZMapp to go around, but on the other hand, it's not done yet.