No flu shots for old vets

Bill Martino

Bill Martino

Joined
Mar 5, 1999
Messages
34,096
I went out to the VA hospital to get my meds straightened out a couple of days ago and noticed signs on the intake counters which read: No Flu Shots. Check back in November.

Like most governmental agencies the VA is in serious need of a major overhaul.
 
A contract from England fell apart, the product was contaminated, and the doses the US Govt ordered won't come. The whole nation is short. Bush said on TV we should give the shots to the weak and elderly, that he himself would have none. That was honest in my opinion.

I'd think you qualify as weak and elderly, Uncle Bill. I'd give you mine if I was getting one.

munk
 
Bush said on TV we should give the shots to the weak and elderly.......

That's pretty much my point --

I don't think I saw one patient at the VA hospital who didn't look like he was knocking at Death's Door yet the old vets take it on the chin again. No flu shots.

The way this country treats the men and women who have served it so honorably, bravely and well but who are now too old, sick and crippled up to offer anything is a goddamned disgrace. Talk about ingratitude.
 
I agree Bill. Use 'em up. Throw 'em out.

Any veteran has my respect and gratitude.

Steve
 
Heard the nasal vaccine Flu Mist was NOT in short supply- try & see if locally available. Better than nothing. I had flu 6 weeks last year... coughed til March. Gonna ask my doc if he has...

AA
 
That's thing about flu shots. From my understanding (which is very limited mind you), flu shots are the scientific communities best guess at which strain or strains of flu virus are going to dominate this year. Sometimes they are right and the shot helps protect you. sometimes they are way off and the shot will do nothing to combat the abundant strain, or at least nothing more than giving you a sugar pill. I rarely get a flu shot for the very reason that we ALWAYS seem to run out before November. I lived for 4 years on a college campus where disease and pestilence run amuck. College kids are some of the filthiest creatures on this earth. I've seen rooms in the dorms that would make entering cockroaches say "Ehhhh...let's try another room". If i didn't contract the flu from any of those dirty kids, then i'm not worried about it now. However, i agree that anyone at risk like the very young kids (the only thing dirtier than an 18 yr old freshman is a 22 month old toddler), and those that could have serious complications from the flu. Anyone in good health between 18 and 50 shouldn't really worry about a flu shot. They talked about how deadly the flu was going to be last year. Sure people died from it, but people die from stepping out in front of buses and choking on chicken bones too. Good luck finding your shot to all of those that need one.

Jake
 
I don't worry about flu shots for myself considering everything but there are a lot of old vets who would certainly be better off with one. My bitch is for them.
 
The funny thing about wars the Politicians don't like to think about is they cost money. They cost money while you fight and cost afterwards. And for many many years after, it costs money to take care of those who fought.

Look at all the harrassment Bush got for raising military pay and benefits.

Treating the military right is a social service everyone should get behind. And it is not charity- they earned it. I don't understand why it is underfunded after all these years. Money has been given to all kinds of people and causes. While those deserving and right in front of us.

Point taken.

munk
 
This is a disgrace. I'm sure some folks are getting flu shots who do NOT need them, just like how all the newscasters and pols were taking Cipro "as a precaution" when we had the anthrax scare- causing a shortage and probably helping create more superbugs.
 
Hindsight is 20/20, but that doesn't mean that the memory and gratitude doesn't fog or fade with each passing generation. A gentleman that one day sloshed through the bloody waters to storm the beaches of Normandy or watched his buddies get shreaded to hamburger on the islands of the Pacific now is thought by many of my generation (his grandkids) as a sick old man driving in the fast lane at 35mph with his blinker on for the last 10 miles backing up traffic. It is sad because it is true. It is shameful because I am guilty of it as well. I wish i could step in the boots of a soldier in WWII even for a minute. I'm not too proud of a man to say that i'd probably piss myself in 5 minutes. To all of you vets out there from the Great War to Iraqi Freedom, I appologize for we youngin's and give thanks for the sacrifices you have made so that my generation can afford the luxury to forget the true horrors you fought against and allowing us the freedom to argue about pointless BS and piss on your triumphs. It is not a reward I would want, but that's what makes you men, and many of us that lack what you have mere shells.

Thanks again
Jake
 
Bottom line according to the wife my public health expert is the bottom line.
US companies don't like to make flu vaccine not due to fear of lawsuit as often alleged, but because since flu vaccine is specific to that years virus. So if you don't use it all you have to throw it away.

I never used to get a flu shot. Then I noticed my public health worker wife who got one and took care of me when I had it never got it. Last 2 winters I got one and never even got a cold. Coincidence? Maybe.

If you really think about the number of people in the US who die from terrorist attacks in the last 10 years versus the number who died from lack of proper preventative medicine, of uncontrolled hypertension, or of even the flu, you can see that maybe "homeland security" should encompass some of these areas also. It is interesting to me that so many of our tax dollars are often spent to protect us against stuff that there is only a marginal chance of ever happening, where more common things that actually probably kill more citizens are on the bottom shelf. I think it has to do with who is donating to who and how much $$ can be made.
 
I gots da floo right now. :(

Anyone want some? I can send you a test tube full of phlem or mucus. Your choice. $3.95 plus shipping.

No choice on colors.

:) :rolleyes:
 
seems that people in necessary occupations related to public service are first in line for the flu vaccine. I've heard stories of police and fire personnel taking their flu shots and donating them to local senior centers so that the aged can (hopefully) have their immunity. very noble in my opinion.

down here in florida the state attorney general has just filed suit against a few providers ffor price gouging... seems these a$$hole$ are charging $900 per box of vials of vaccine- they normally sell for about $80. IMHO that is a heinous crime that should be punishable in the same manner as violent felonies.

on another note, and unfortunately, our country (particularly the federal government it seems) has a long history of quickly forgetting the valuable service of the men and women who fight and die in her name. I know that in WW1 there was a minor rebellion by a large group of cav soldiers who came home to unemployment and never even recieved proper payment for their service. so I guess that in one way or another things have always been that way. and that is truly disgusting if anyones asking my opinion.
 
munk said:
..Look at all the harrassment Bush got for raising military pay and benefits...
Click to expand...
Munk, are you a veteran? Do you belong to any veteran's organizations and keep informed of veteran's issues?

In the spring of 2003, the Bush administration sent to the House its proposal for cutting $844 million from veterans’ health care from the 2004 budget. Over a 10-year period the cuts would total approximately $10 billion. When the proposal reached the House Budget Committee, all 18 Democrats opposed the cuts, and they proposed an amendment to restore the $844 million and add another billion for VA discretionary health care. Led by their chairman, Jim Nussle of Iowa, Republicans on the committee, in an almost perfect party-line vote, 22-19, rejected the amendment and proceeded with the Bush proposal.

*************************************

The White House quickly backpedaled Thursday on Pentagon plans to cut the combat pay of the 157,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan after disclosure of the idea quickly became a political embarrassment.

The Pentagon's support for the idea of rolling back "imminent danger pay" by $75 a month and "family separation allowances" for the American forces by $150 a month collapsed after a story in The Chronicle Thursday generated intense criticism from military families, veterans groups and Democratic candidates seeking to unseat President Bush in 2004.

*************************************

As revealed in the White House memo, the Veterans Affairs Department budget would fall 3.4 percent from $29.7 billion in 2005 to $28.7 billion. This would include a $910 million cut to the existing veterans health care budget and a $53 million cut for the homeownership program, nearly reversing the $78 million funding increase that Bush pledged for a homeownership program in 2005.

For the last four years, the Bush Administration has been encouraging congressional Republicans to reduce veterans’ benefits and health care; most of the time they backed down in the face of strong Democratic opposition.

Last year the head of the Veterans of Foreign Wars called a similar Bush Administration budget “disgraceful” and “deplorable.” In the coming years, if Bush is relected, we can expect the VFW to use words like “even more disgraceful” and “even more deplorable.”

*************************************

Bush ordered VA centers around the country to cease informing veterans and their families about government health care services and to stop recruiting new veterans to use them.
 
Been around- I have read the details in the past, and I know there was some loss and some gain, but overall, Bush has upped the benefits of Service? Yes or No? ( I want to know- I'm not confronting you)
And you realize if your answer is 'no' I'd have to check with other folks to see if you've missed something. You and I both know that reading different outlets, though they may print the letter of the truth, often leave out what is important in knowing the whole truth.

It's why debate pisses me off so much- few of us really know anything- because our sources are biased you really have to dig to figure anything out.

IN other words, a citizen shouldn't have to do the research of a term paper merely to find out if overall benefits went down or up to the military during a President's time in office.


munk
 
Bill Martino said:
Like most governmental agencies the VA is in serious need of a major overhaul.
Click to expand...

Don't blame the VA for this one. The Medical Centers can't provide what they don't have.
 
In the end, I don't believe anybody gives a flying f*** about vets. I've known guys that have had life long serious problems with what they saw and did in war. If they are lucky they get a meager subsistence from the government. Enough to live in a run down dump and stay drunk to forget. The U.S. government could give a rats azz about them.

Other guys have just blown their brains out.
 
I rarely get the flu shot.. I came down with the
'Asian Flu' in 1957 in England. Knocked me on my a$$ for about 10 days in the hospital, along with a bunch of others on the Base. I drank enough juices to float a battle ship. One kid refused to drink the juices to get his fever down. They warned him and finally gave him an alcohol bath, not fun to watch. He started drinking plenty of juices after that.
I take Multi vitamins w/ minerals, plus Vita C, Vita E and every other day a B12 Vit. Been doing that for years and no colds, no flu. Works for me, not recommending it for others.
DAG 24 yr Vet

I have mixed feelings about the VA Hospitals. Hard to sort out the disinformation and spin. My former neighbor used to work at the VA in Albuquerque. He had mixed stories. Some good, some bad.
 
Bill Martino said:
I don't worry about flu shots for myself considering everything but there are a lot of old vets who would certainly be better off with one. My bitch is for them.
Click to expand...

In my experience the VA Hospitals have always sucked. I don't know if it's because they are underfunded, or more likely just because they are run by a huge, inefficient bureaucracy, but for the most part they are a disgrace. When I was 25 I spent 2 days in a Vet hospital with my Dad just before he died, while he lay on a gurney in the hallway, with most of the muscles torn on the right side of his rib cage from a fall, out of his mind in agony. He couldn't even get up to use the bathroom. I practically got kicked out because I started to yell at some slob eating a sandwich when I couldn't get a pain shot for him and the Doctor's were all "busy". Then they doped the hell out of him just to shut him up for a day while they screwed around trying to find someone to look at him. (Have you ever noticed that the more inefficient, poorly run and bureaucratic a place is, and the more downright rude and incompetent jerks that work there, the MORE security they have? Check out the SSA or the DMV.)

In any case, I would rather die alone wrapped around a toilet than have to go to a place like that when my time comes.


Norm
 
munk said:
..Bush has upped the benefits of Service? Yes or No?..
Click to expand...

The pay scale for active military has increased.
Benefits for veterans, have mostly remained the same except that medical coverage for WWII and Korea vets has decreased.
Major funding cuts in veterans benefits, and large personnel reductions in the VA hospitals were proposed by the Bush administration but were blocked by the Democrats.
Major decreases are planned if Bush is re-elected.

This is not opinion nor speculation. It is a matter of public record.
 
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