Out of curiosity, I sent that chain email about bird flu to Graeme Laver,
one of the codiscoverrs of relenza and tamiflu.
For those interested, he inserted his comments in quotes in the text, below.
Bird Flu----what they didnt tell us....
Do you know that 'bird flu' was discovered in Vietnam 9 years ago?
- "It first appeared in people in Hong Kong in 1997, Vietnam after that"
Do you know that barely 100 people have died in the whole world in all
- "So far 218 people have been infected with the H5N1 virus ( lab
confirmed infections ) and of these 124 have died."
that time?
Do you know that it was the Americans who alerted us to the efficacy
of the human antiviral TAMIFLU as a preventative.
- "The clinical trials that showed Tamiflu would work prophylactically
were done in the USA"
Do you know that TAMIFLU barely alleviates some symptoms of the common
flu?
- "Rubish ! Tamiflu is very effective against the "common" flu if it is
given early enough"
Do you know that its efficacy against the common flu is questioned by
a great part of the scientific community?
- "A few people who don't know any better, question this. The problem
is, Tamiflu needs to be given 6 - 12 hours after flu symptoms appear in
order to be effective and if it is given too late it does not work. That, I
think, is what has given rise to this mistaken belief by some people."
Do you know that against a SUPPOSED mutant virus such as H5N1, TAMIFLU
will not work?
- "Rubbish. Of course it will work against H5N1 it it is given early
enough and if the dose is right. It won't work against Tamiflu resistant
mutants, if these ever arise. But that is another problem
Do you know that to date Avian Flu affects birds only?
- "Rubbish. The H5N1 "bird flu" has infected people, cats, dogs,
tigers and pigs.
Do you know who markets TAMIFLU?
ROCHE LABORATORIES.
- "Yes"
Do you know who bought the patent for TAMIFLU from ROCHE LABORATORIES
in 1996?
GILEAD SCIENCES INC.
- "Nonsense. Gilead hold the Tamiflu paent ( and always have ) and
licensed Roche to test and market it."
Do you know who was the then president of GILEAD SCIENCES INC. and
remains a major shareholder?
DONALD RUMSFELD, the present Secretary of Defence of the USA .
- "Yes"
Do you know that the base of TAMIFLU is crushed aniseed?
Do you know who controls 90% of the world's production of this tree?
ROCHE.
Do you know that sales of TAMIFLU were over $254 million in 2004 and
more than $1000 million in 2005?
Do you know how many more millions ROCHE can earn in the coming months
if the business of fear continues?
- "Yes, yes, yes, we know all that. Except that there now is a new
synthetic process to make Tamiflu that does not depend on the Star Anis
seed"
So the summary of the story is as follows:
Bush's friends decide that the medicine TAMIFLU is the solution for a
pandemic that has not yet occurred and that has caused only a hundred deaths
worldwide in 9 years.
This medicine doesn't so much as cure the common flu.
- "ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT, AND EVEYONE SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET IT IN TIME FOR
IT TO WORK."
In normal conditions the virus does not affect humans.
- "But it may, if it mutates to become transmissible among people ( a
lot of us say this won't happen, but we might be wrong )"
Rumsfeld sells the patent for TAMIFLU to ROCHE for which they pay him
a fortune.
- "I don't think so. Rumsfeld was just lucky he held Gilead stock."
Roche acquires 90% of the global production of crushed aniseed, the
base for the antivirus.
The governments of the entire world threaten a pandemic and then buy
industrial quantities of the product from Roche.
- "Good on them ! You might just need it to save your miserable life !"
So we end up paying for medicine while Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush do
the business.
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Mark Gafney
Sent: Friday, 26 May 2006 8:35
To:
Subject: Fw: [APMW] Avian flu: Don't place all the blame
onwild birds
Bird Flu----what they didnt tell us....
Do you know that 'bird flu' was discovered in Vietnam 9 years ago?
Do you know that barely 100 people have died in the whole world in
all
that time?
Do you know that it was the Americans who alerted us to the
efficacy
of the human antiviral TAMIFLU as a preventative.
Do you know that TAMIFLU barely alleviates some symptoms of the
common
flu?
Do you know that its efficacy against the common flu is questioned
by
a great part of the scientific community?
Do you know that against a SUPPOSED mutant virus such as H5N1,
TAMIFLU
will not work?
Do you know that to date Avian Flu affects birds only?
Do you know who markets TAMIFLU?
ROCHE LABORATORIES.
Do you know who bought the patent for TAMIFLU from ROCHE
LABORATORIES
in 1996?
GILEAD SCIENCES INC.
Do you know who was the then president of GILEAD SCIENCES INC. and
remains a major shareholder?
DONALD RUMSFELD, the present Secretary of Defence of the USA .
Do you know that the base of TAMIFLU is crushed aniseed?
Do you know who controls 90% of the world's production of this tree?
ROCHE.
Do you know that sales of TAMIFLU were over $254 million in 2004 and
more than $1000 million in 2005?
Do you know how many more millions ROCHE can earn in the coming
months
if the business of fear continues?
So the summary of the story is as follows:
Bush's friends decide that the medicine TAMIFLU is the solution for
a
pandemic that has not yet occurred and that has caused only a
hundred deaths
worldwide in 9 years.
This medicine doesn't so much as cure the common flu.
In normal conditions the virus does not affect humans.
Rumsfeld sells the patent for TAMIFLU to ROCHE for which they pay
him
a fortune.
Roche acquires 90% of the global production of crushed aniseed,
the
base for the antivirus.
The governments of the entire world threaten a pandemic and then buy
industrial quantities of the product from Roche.
So we end up paying for medicine while Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush do
the business.
==============================www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
==============================
This message and its attachments may contain legally privileged or
confidential information. It is intended solely for the named addressee. If
you are not the addressee indicated in this message (or responsible for
delivery of the message to the addressee), you may not copy or deliver this
message or its attachments to anyone. Rather, you should permanently delete
this message and its attachments and kindly notify the sender by reply
e-mail. Any content of this message and its attachments which does not
relate to the official business of the sending company must be taken not to
have been sent or endorsed by that company or any of its related entities.
No warranty is made that the e-mail or attachment(s) are free from computer
virus or other defect.
===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
===============================
|
