Todd Sloane

About the author: Todd Sloane is assistant managing editor of Modern Healthcare.

The U.S. government is asking health care providers to be vaccinated against smallpox so they will be protected in the event of a bioterror attack. This proposal seems foolish because there is little reason to believe that such an attack will occur. Vaccination is risky, both because people may have severe reactions to the vaccine and because vaccinated people can spread the disease to others. Furthermore, the government is not offering to pay for it, and its costs could force health care systems to suspend more useful programs. Nonetheless, few have protested the program because no one wants to seem to oppose "preparedness."

In late January 2003, healthcare providers will be subjected to a hugely expensive and risky public health...