Thread: Illinois Gov's $2.6 million dollar flu plan cured no one.

Gov's $2.6 mil. flu plan cured no one
(http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary ... 7a.article)

August 7, 2007

Gov. Blagojevich's ill-fated effort to import more flu vaccine during the winter of 2004-05 has turned into a textbook example of how not to govern by bravado and bluster. Virtually nothing about the proposal turned out right -- unless you count the initial burst of good publicity for the governor at the time. And now we learn that even the one legitimate bright spot has a sour ending.

The idea sprang from a flu-shot shortage in the fall of 2004. The governor's office looked abroad to find more vaccine, eventually agreeing to buy some from a British wholesaler for $2.6 million. As a state audit later determined, Illinois pushed ahead before it had the federal approval that would have made the purchase legal. Blagojevich's office never documented why it ordered a quarter of a million doses.

The administration placed the order in October 2004 but didn't sign a contract until three months later, after it was billed by the wholesaler. And at that point, state officials apparently knew the shots no longer were needed, because there was enough domestic supply to cover the elderly and others in the high-risk population.

"There was no emergency," said Rep. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock), a critic of the program who requested the audit. "It was created by the governor so he could portray himself as a knight in shining armor to save the poor citizens of this state."

The shots never did reach Illinois. But the wholesaler, Ecosse Hospital Products, demanded payment anyway, arguing the state was still on the hook for the cost. Blagojevich wanted to pay, but state Comptroller Dan Hynes refused to cut the check. Hynes said the failure of federal officials to approve the importation of the vaccines gave the state a legitimate reason to nullify the deal. The dispute is still pending in court.

"It was my belief then and it remains my belief now that you don't pay for something unless you absolutely receive it," Hynes said Monday. "This was a case where they announced something and said we'll work out the details later. I would call it governing from the hip."

Meanwhile, the vaccines sat in storage until the next year. Unable to sell the disputed doses on the open market, Illinois and Eccose donated them to Pakistan, which was struggling with the aftermath of a major earthquake. It was a nice gesture, a way to eke out some good in an otherwise botched operation.

Except, it turns out, not a single dose made it to an earthquake victim. As the Chicago Tribune reported Sunday, Pakistani health authorities didn't know the doses had expired when they accepted the donation. While Ecosse said the doses still were potent, officials were put off and decided to destroy them instead of using them, the paper said.

So on top of all the other problems with the flu-shot effort, Franks said, now we've insulted a key ally and damaged our reputation abroad.

"But the real insult happened to our taxpayers," he said.

This isn't an example of things looking differently in hindsight. The state rushed headlong into the deal without doing its homework. Now it has nothing but some bad publicity and a disputed $2.6 million bill.

Our government at work

Just another example of a politician who thinks he was annointed by God.

This governor is a literal joke.......really politics in this whole state is a joke.