Law Firms
Editorial Advises Ropes & Gray: Stop ‘Hoarding’ Tamiflu
Posted Nov 3, 2009 9:32 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Ropes & Gray is apparently serious about keeping employees at the office.
The law firm has more than 40 high-end coffee machines that are said to keep employees at the office and away from Starbucks. And now the firm is also stockpiling Tamiflu for its employees, the Boston Globe reports in an editorial that condemns the practice.
Ropes & Gray is among about 300 companies that have arranged for special supplies of the drug to combat the swine flu virus. Ropes & Gray employees will be able to get a Tamiflu prescription while they are healthy so they can take the drug when they have flu symptoms.
The editorial says physicians worry that indiscriminate use of Tamiflu will make the drug less effective. According to the Globe, “Ropes & Gray should quit hoarding and have its employees await their doctors’ orders like most of the rest of the world.”
Ropes & Gray defended its Tamiflu program in a previous Boston Globe story. “There is no higher priority at Ropes & Gray than the health and safety of the firm’s employees,’’ spokesman John Tuerck told the publication in an e-mail. “Like many other professional services firms, we made the optional Tamiflu program available to our employees to combat the duration and severity of flu symptoms.’’
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Comments
Aliceje
Nov 3, 2009 11:28 AM CST
It is good to know that the adults at Ropes & Gray won’t be getting sick and dying from H1N1. So far it is striking and killing mostly young children and adults with underlying health conditioins. BUT, I know we all prefer to have the Ropes & Gray staff fully protected because attorneys are worth much more than children!!
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Mike
Nov 3, 2009 11:49 AM CST
Unfortunately, Ropes & Gray have removed one key component from the equation. The doctor required to diagnose ‘flu.’ Administering tamiflu every time someone feels sick will make it as worthless as penecillin. Tamiflu, like other medicines, should only be administered by doctors.
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AndytheLawyer
Nov 3, 2009 12:24 PM CST
I wonder if Ropes and Gray has California offices where they stockpile legal medical marijuana for attorneys and staff who might otherwise be tempted to take time off for back pain, glaucoma or chemotherapy aftermath relief.
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please
Nov 3, 2009 12:31 PM CST
I wish I could magically stop people from commenting when they don’t know what they’re talking about. FIRST, the only way that Tamiflu is effective is if it started within 24 hours of first developing symptoms (best to start w/in the first 12). SECOND, Ropes used doctors to prescribe the drug after consultations, and doctors aren’t required to diagnose anything before prescribing anything (for the most part). THIRD, tamiflu is an antiviral, not an antibiotic. It cannot be used to prevent infection - you can’t compare antivirals with antibiotics.
For the love of God, STOP THE MADNESS! If you only THINK you know what you’re talking about, DON’T COMMENT. Like the flu, we must also stop the spread of misinformation.
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LizM
Nov 3, 2009 12:45 PM CST
“Ropes & Gray is among about 300 companies that have arranged for special supplies of the drug to combat the swine flu virus. Ropes & Gray employees will be able to get a Tamiflu prescription while they are healthy so they can take the drug when they have flu symptoms.”
Is this wrong, because I read it to say that the prescriptions are given BEFORE employees get the flu with instructions to take it. If over-prescribed, the H1N1 virus can mutate to make Tamiflu less effective. Finally, if there is in fact a shortage of Tamiflu, it ought to be prescribed to those that are most at risk of dying (pregnant women, children and young adults, and the elderly), not based on who is lucky enough to have an employer that horded it.
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Anon
Nov 3, 2009 12:57 PM CST
My asthmatic niece recently came down with H1N1 flu (and on the very day she was supposed to have been vaccinated, too). Her parents, both doctors, had to use quite a few of their connections to find Tamiflu for her, because of a local shortage aggravated by precisely this sort of unconscionable behavior.
Fortunately, the Tamiflu was extremely effective in relieving my niece’s symptoms, and she recovered without any complications.
But Ropes & Gray should be ashamed of itself.
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khazeh
Nov 3, 2009 1:15 PM CST
please @4, take your own advice. Why bother to involve the doctors at all? Just let people decide if they think they have the flu and take the drug, right? That worked so well for antibioltics - and if you’d bothered to read the article before defending your special access to Tamiflu, you’d have seen that doctors are concerned frivolous use of Tamiflu will reduce its effectiveness.
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RSB
Nov 4, 2009 6:11 AM CST
I reciently threatened a doctor with a malpractice suit if they didnt perscribe for my children, and it did the trick. There is supposed to be a stratigic stockpile of this for everyone in the US. NOT using this and having it ready and accessable for everyone who wants it is a crime (ok should be).
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