For You It's "Hoarding," For Branson It's "Stockpiling"
Stitch in Time blog
By Kip
In a previous post I asked the following:
Why is it "stockpiling" when the federal government buys millions of doses of Tamiflu in advance, but "hoarding" when I try to buy two?
Now my question is: Why is it "hoarding" if I, a private citizen, want two doses of Tamiflu, but "stockpiling" when Richard Branson, also a private citizen, wants 10,000 doses for his private airline?
In response to questions about companies hording Tamiflu, Branson said, "We've bought [Tamiflu] because our staff is on the front line."
Branson also said that despite Virgin's best efforts to protect staff and passengers, if the flu starts spreading person to person, "it will most certainly affect the airline industry."
Last time I checked, Virgin Atlantic was neither a hospital nor a pharmacy nor a government. Moreover, an airline cannot "catch the flu" the way you or I can (recent flu shot notwithstanding).
So two new questions arise:
1. Why is a private, for-profit, non-medical business allowed to hoard stockpile any prescription drugs under any circumstances in the first place?
2. Where, precisely, is the line between "stockpiling" and "hoarding" drawn? Hopefully not at the same line between intelligent policy and the Politics of Pull. |
