Why is the U.S. Doubling Its Protection Against this Non-existent Health Enemy?
By Dr. Mercola
TheIntelHub.com
December 25, 2011
The U.S. government has awarded a $433-million contract to pharmaceutical company Siga Technologies for 1.7 million doses of an experimental smallpox drug called ST-246 (Tecovirimat).
In this time of limited resources and heavy budget deficits, the decision to spend nearly half a billion dollars to stockpile a drug of questionable safety and effectiveness, for a strictly theoretical danger, is puzzling — and that is an extreme understatement.
Smallpox Drug Given FDA “Fast-Track” Status, Despite No Imminent Risk
Siga’s ST-246, which reportedly works by blocking the ability of the smallpox viruses to spread to other cells, has been granted “fast-track” status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Under this accelerated approval process, experimental drugs are brought to market sooner, even though they’ve only been tested on a small number of people and their effects and safety risks are not clearly understood.
Unfortunately, there are serious, and sometimes fatal consequences of bringing drugs to market without adequate safety testing — and it is unclear why there is an urgent need for this drug that would warrant “fast-track” approval.
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