Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune - August 4, 2005
Christi Parsons, cparsons@tribune.com
The matter has opened a political rift as the state comptroller and attorney general continue to fight a bill collection effort by the British wholesaler that procured the 250,000 flu shots for Illinois, arguing that taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for the vaccines Blagojevich ordered but never received.
The vaccines never made it to Illinois and the other states and cities that ordered them because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration refused to approve them. Blagojevich says that's not the wholesaler's fault, and that the state should pay the $2.6 million it agreed to pay.
"Had the flu season been bad instead of mild, we could have had a disaster on our hands," said Deputy Governor Bradley Tusk. "That's why securing the vaccines was necessary, and we should pay what we owe."
But Comptroller Dan Hynes has refused to pay the bill from Ecosse Hospital Products Ltd., and Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan has filed a motion to dismiss Ecosse's complaint before the Illinois Court of Claims. Efforts to reach Ecosse officials were unsuccessful.
The expiration this summer means the vaccines now stand no chance of being approved for import to this country. The governor's office wants to donate the vaccines to the Nelson Mandela Foundation so that they can be used to help patients in that country. The vaccines could still be useful there because the country is just at the beginning of the flu season for which the inoculations were created, according to the governor's office.
South African officials haven't approved use of the vaccines there, according to Tusk.
The matter arose last fall as health officials warned of a pending influenza vaccine shortage in the U.S., and public officials scrambled to get additional shots in anticipation of a serious outbreak. The Blagojevich administration procured 700,000 vaccines made by GlaxoSmithKline in Germany and Aventis Pasteur in France.
In addition to the shots the state ordered for its own citizens, it procured the rest for officials elsewhere, including the state of New Mexico and the cities of New York and Cleveland.
But President Bush's administration blocked the governor's efforts by withholding approval of the European vaccine for import.
The scarcity of flu vaccines didn't turn out to be as bad as originally feared. And in the meantime, Blagojevich has drawn fire for the move. Indeed, a Republican running for governor on Wednesday called the mess a "campaign public relations stunt gone awry." The GOP hopeful, Ron Gidwitz, called on Blagojevich to pay for the vaccines out of his campaign fund.
For his part, Hynes, who controls the state checkbook, says he won't let state money be used to pay for pharmaceuticals the state never received.
A spokesman for Hynes said the comptroller thinks the court of claims will agree with him.
"The comptroller felt that the state should not have to pay almost $2.6 million for flu vaccines it never received," said Hynes spokesman Alan Henry. "That's the long and the short of it."
Officials in other states agree.
"From the beginning, it was our assessment that we would commit to buying if we received it," said Matt Carroll, director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health. "Since it was never received, we don't feel an obligation to pay."
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