2020-03-30_Bloomberg_Businessweek

ByJoeNocera

Brynienv.

Daines,etal.

Case#8853/2009

N.Y.SupremeCourt

Can Health-Care Workers Be

Forced to Take a Vaccine?

①THEORIGINInlateMarch 2009 theH1N1virus—akaswineflu—firstappeared

inCalifornia.Withina monththefirstAmericansbegantodiefromthevirus.In

JunetheWorldHealthOrganizationandtheU.S.CentersforDiseaseControland

Preventionhaddeclaredit a pandemic.Asthedeathtollmounted,companies

scrambledtocomeupwitha vaccine.Byearlyfall,it wasready.

②THESUIT Dr.RichardDaines,a formerNewYorkstatehealthcommis-

sioner,orderedeveryhealth-careworkertobevaccinatedagainstthevirus.

If theydidn’tdosobyNov.30,theycouldbefired.TheNewYorkStatePublic

EmployeesFederationandthreenursesledbyLornaPatterson,anemer-

gencyroomnurseattheAlbanyMedicalCenter,suedDaines,claiminghe’d

exceededhisauthorityinissuinghisorder.Besides,Pattersonsaidata news

conference,“ittakesawayfromourfreedomofchoice.”

③THERULING OnOct.16,tothesurpriseofmany,actingJusticeThomas

McNamaraoftheNewYorkStateSupremeCourtissueda stay,whichprevented

Daines’smandatefromgoingintoeffect.Oneargumentthatappearedtosway

thejudgewasthatthevaccinehadbeenracedintoproductionwithoutproper

testing.Thenurses,theirlawyersaidafterthestaywasissued,“feelvery

stronglythattheyarebeingsetuptobeguineapigs.”

④THEOUTCOME Thecaseneverdidgettotrial.A fewweekslater,New

YorkGovernorDavidPatersonsuspendedthemandatoryvaccinations.The

reason?A shortageofvaccines.Thefederalgovernmentwasabletosupplyonly

one-fifth of the vaccines it had promised. In the end, swine flu made 60 mil-

lion Americans sick; there were 273,000 hospitalizations and 12,400 deaths.

But because this decade-old case was never resolved, we still don’t know

whethera stateofficialcanmandatecitizenstobevaccinated.Withtheanti-

vaxmovementbeingwhatit is,youcanrestassuredwe’llseemorecaseslike

thisoneassoonasa vaccineforthenewcoronavirusbecomesavailable.<BW>

�Nocera is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion

●Thatdidn’ttake

long:Amongthe2,421

peoplestrandedon

theGrandPrincessoff

thecoastofCalifornia

afterthecoronavirus

swept through the

ship, a half-dozen

have already sued

Princess Cruise Lines

Ltd. More lawsuits are

sure to come.

● TheTheranosangle:

OnMarch9, Fortress

InvestmentGroupLLC

suedBioMérieuxSA,

whichis workingon

a Covid-19vaccine,

claiming patents it

bought from Theranos

were being violated.

BioMérieux denied

the allegation. After a

backlash, Fortress said

it would offer royalty-

free licenses. So

Theranos’s technology

isn’t worthless after all.

64

ILLUSTRATION BY GEORGE WYLESOL

◼ LAST THING

With Bloomberg Opinion

Bloomberg

Businessweek

(USPS

080

900)

March

30,

2020

(ISSN

0007-7135)

H

Issue

no.

4651

Published

weekly,

except

one

week

in

January,

February,

March,

May,

July,

August,

September,

October,

November

and

December

by

Bloomberg

L.P.

Periodicals

postage

paid

at

New

York,

N.Y.,

and

at

additional

mailing

offices.

Executive,

Editorial,

Circulation,

and

Advertising

Offices:

Bloomberg

Businessweek,

731

Lexington

Avenue,

New

York,

NY

10022.

POSTMASTER:

Send

address

changes

to

Bloomberg

Businessweek,

P.O.

Box

37528,

Boone,

IA

50037-0528.

Canada

Post

Publication

Mail

Agreement

Number

41989020.

Return

undeliverable

Canadian

addresses

to

DHL

Global

Mail,

355

Admiral

Blvd.,

Unit

4,

Mississauga, ON L5T 2N1. Email: [email protected]. QST#1008327064. Registered for GST as Bloomberg L.P. GST #12829 9898 RT0001. Copyright 2020 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Title registered in the U.S. Patent Office. Single Copy Sales: Call 800 298-9867 or email: [email protected]. Educational Permissions: Copyright Clearance Center at [email protected]. Printed in the U.S.A. CPPAP NUMBER 0414N68830