Polish PM slams drug companies over vaccine

The Polish prime minister said Poland wants certainty that A(H1N1) vaccines are - safe from the point of view of Polish patients.

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Friday slammed drug companies selling swine flu vaccines for allegedly refusing to take legal responsibility for any of their possible side effects.

- We know that the companies offering H1N1 vaccines don't want to take responsibility for (the) side effects - Tusk told reporters Friday in Warsaw.

Poland has not yet signed a contract for delivery of the vaccine against the A(H1N1) virus and has yet to record its first swine flu-related death. Public health officials say 200 people have tested positive for the virus.

- Today we are dealing with huge pressure from pharmaceutical companies - he said.

- They expect the kind of terms which are probably not in line with Polish law and in which all the responsibility is put on national governments for any legal claims connected to any possible side effects - Tusk added.

Tusk also said his country would be more inclined to buy the A(H1N1) vaccine if the European Commission were to take legal responsibility for any side effects.

The Polish prime minister said Poland wants certainty that A(H1N1) vaccines are - safe from the point of view of Polish patients. -

- The zealousness of certain countries (in administering the vaccine) seems exaggerated and out of step with the real epidemic - he added.

More than 5,700 people have died worldwide since the swine flu pandemic was first discovered in April, with most deaths -- 4,175 -- reported in the Americas region, according to the most recent World Health Organisation data.