Georgia on My Mind: But Not So Much Mercury In It?

From the Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle.com

ATLANTA --- It's going to be a little harder to get a flu shot at some Georgia pharmacies this season.

Several of the state's large pharmacy chains said Friday they'll require each customer to have a prescription from their doctor to get a shot. For years now, patients have been able to pay a fee and a pharmacist would administer the shot without the customer needing any paperwork.

But a complaint filed this year with the Georgia Board of Pharmacy prompted a surprising legal decision: the flu vaccine is classified as a dangerous drug in Georgia, which means a prescription has been needed all along.

That touched off a flurry of sometimes contradictory advice from medical and pharmacy officials and worries that shots would be harder to obtain.

Gov. Sonny Perdue told pharmacists that they should "continue prior practices" without fearing prosecution.

But some of the larger pharmacy chains in the state say they aren't taking any chances.

Spokesmen for The Kroger Co. and Publix Supermarkets, which operate a combined 327 pharmacies throughout Georgia, each said they would now require customers to have a prescription for a flu shot.

Click to the article so you can leave a comment HERE.

Comments

[Greg Powell]

The governor's statement was bizarre. This is definitely a good thing though. Individual prescriptions should have been required all along. Before, one doctor in Atlanta issued a blanket authorization to dispense and administer flu vaccines under a specific protocol. The term "dangerous drug" is simply a legal term. This is simply another term for "prescription drug." They are not saying the flu shot is any more dangerous than other rx drugs, even though is certainly is very dangerous. Good for Georgia!

[Kelli Ann Davis]

Which begs the obvious question: How would a piece of paper (doc's script) change the classification of a drug from *dangerous* to *benign*?? Is it written on some sort of magical, nothing-up-my-sleeve-presto paper? Or is it the "MD" alphabet letters that do the trick??

[Angela Warner]

I find it disturbing that the Governor would be encouraging pharmacists to basically break the law.... What is up with that???

[Gayatri]

"It's going to be a little harder to get a flu shot at some Georgia pharmacies this season."

I think Georgia should be applauded for taking this step. It would be great if the rest of the country followed suit.

How do you go about filing a complaint against the flu shot? I know for a fact that my son first lost his speech, began echolalia, and then got his ASD diagnosis following the flu shot and booster. And no, this wasn't in the magic 2-3 time frame when kids "mysteriously" get autism. This was later, at 4 years and it WAS the flu shot that did it.