Oct. 14, 2004
By Mike McPhee
Denver Post Staff Writer
Someone stole nearly 800 doses of flu vaccine over the weekend from a pediatric clinic in Aurora, leaving the clinic without enough for the hundreds of children who need it.
Kids Aurora, a private, two- doctor pediatric clinic that treats about 60 kids a week, is missing 78 boxes of flu vaccine, enough for 780 doses, from a refrigerator inside the clinic, said office manager Edie Greer.
"We don't know what happened. It wasn't locked, and there was no sign of forced entry," she said. "We had 90 boxes delivered Friday. On Tuesday, there were only 12 boxes left. Nice that they left some behind."
Now the painful decisions start. The clinic had appointments scheduled for all 900 doses over the next four Saturdays. Now it must decide which patients will receive the remaining 120 doses.
"The government wants all children 2 years or younger immunized. But what about the older kids with asthma, with heart problems, with cancer?" Greer asked. "We can't get any more."
The clinic, located in Aurora Medical Center near East Mississippi Avenue and Interstate 225, treats patients from birth to 21 years old.
Aurora police investigated but said they had no leads. No fingerprints were found on the refrigerator. Greer speculated that the thief or thieves will sell the vaccine on the Internet, where doses are selling for as much as $400. The clinic paid $8 a dose and charges $25 a dose.
"We've had doctors calling us offering to buy it from us," Greer said. "It's not so much about our loss as it is about the poor kids who need it."
Medical professionals said they won't touch vaccine from black or gray marketers.
The vaccine must be kept refrigerated between 36 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit or it will become inactivated, said Ryan Stice, pharmacy director for Porter Adventist Hospital.
"That's one of the reasons why we don't purchase this stuff - we have no way of knowing how it was stored."
He added that any sterile product not stored properly also can develop bacterial growth.
Stice said he was contacted by a Florida company last week offering to sell flu vaccine for $650 per vial, or 10 adult doses. He refused to buy.
"I wouldn't think you could do anything with (the stolen vaccine)," said Cori Dugan, a pharmacist with Walgreen's pharmacy downtown. "People are getting desperate for the vaccine. But I can't imagine anyone buying it off the street."
The nationwide shortage hit when a British manufacturer, Chiron Corp., one of two suppliers of flu vaccine for the United States, was shut down for potential contamination.
"We were one of the few clinics that got any," Greer said, adding that the clinic wisely ordered the 900 doses a year ago, ahead of the shortage.
Greer said the flu season usually hits at the end of October and lasts for at least a month.
Mike McPhee can be reached at 303-820-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com .
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