[CanRay]

Might also have been an attempt at pharmaceutical corporations trying to make a "Treatment" rather than a "Cure".  Especially as it already exists and no R&D costs (Which are expensive) need to have been used outside of "Let's throw everything we have at this virus to see what happens!".

I'm sorry, so I sound bitter about pharmaceutical corporations?

[Crimsondude]

Oh, then you must love the bit in Cyberpirates! about how Johns Hopkins was decertified as a university because of the experiments it did on patients in Haiti. Not to worry though. It's still rap... treating patients in the Caribbean and Africa as the Johns Hopkins Institute of Health.

I'm guessing the authors either really liked or really hated their alma mater.

[farothel]

Might also have been an attempt at pharmaceutical corporations trying to make a "Treatment" rather than a "Cure".  Especially as it already exists and no R&D costs (Which are expensive) need to have been used outside of "Let's throw everything we have at this virus to see what happens!".

I'm sorry, so I sound bitter about pharmaceutical corporations?

It's probably going to be more the hospitals and not the pharmaceutical companies.  If a disease shows up all of a sudden and doesn't seem to stop, that's what doctors in hospitals will do.  They have patients but no cure, so they will start to go through what they have at that moment.  And before they know what it actually is, antibiotics would probably have been used, just in case it's bacterial (they first need to make a culture before they can know the basic 'is it a bacterium or a virus').  These kind of things are often found by accident because a doctor had nothing else to try, so he went for it.  Kind of like the invention of penicillin.

Also, sometimes while developing a medication, they will find it has 'interesting' side effects: viagra.  It was developed as a heart disease treatment, but it didn't work well enough to pass trials.  The main side effect on the other hand  And now Pfizer makes millions from it (although you have to be very careful if you have certain heart conditions, as still does work there as well).

[CanRay]

I have my reasons for the pharmaceuticals and I'll leave it at that.  The fact that they're more interested in long-term profits rather than easing the suffering of others is just one of them.  (Yes yes yes, they're corporations who are legally obligated to Shareholders, not Morality, I understand that fully.  But think about that for a few moments, do they HAVE to be Corporations, as there are other business patterns?).

But, yes, the dump everything into someone until they get better was probably a hospital emergency thing.

Back to VITAS:  It's a plague that came out of nowhere and hit humanity like a ton of rectangular building things.  It seems to have come out of India originally, and who knows what the hell really happened.  VITAS-II was worse and better at the same time.  And, like Smallpox and other fun things, there are probably military organizations that are trying to militarize it.  Some of whom belong to Megas.

[hobgoblin]

Kind of like the invention of penicillin.

Just another proof that the most common expression before a new discovery is "hang on, that's odd..." rather then "eureka!".

[CanRay]

Or, "Hold mah beer an' watch this!"

[farothel]

Or, "Hold mah beer an' watch this!"

This quote probably comes from those 'inventors' who end up getting a Darwin Award.   

[hobgoblin]

or discovered that wine improves superconductors...

http://aquapour.com/red-wine-superconductor-discovery/555196/

[Stahlseele]

or discovered that wine improves superconductors...

http://aquapour.com/red-wine-superconductor-discovery/555196/

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/11/artificial-diam.html
is there anything alcohol can't do?

[CanRay]

or discovered that wine improves superconductors...

http://aquapour.com/red-wine-superconductor-discovery/555196/

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/11/artificial-diam.html
is there anything alcohol can't do?

Stahl, you're German.  You know there's nothing it can't do! 

[Stahlseele]

But of course, you're correct mate!

[Longshot23]

There is a question or suggestion - NOT made by Lone Gunman - in one of the books that the VITAS epidemics might have been intended to get certain bloodlines out of the population before UGE (elves & dwarves) & Goblinisation (orks & trolls), although the timing is off there.  Someone jumped on the post in the book to the effect that they hoped it was merely speculation.

[farothel]

I wouldn't put it past certain groups to try and do this kind of stuff (in fact, genetic manipulation on bacteria and virusses is not all that difficult).  The classical pre-emptive strike, even though it did fail in this case.

[Longshot23]

Which brings us to who had the knowledge and capabilities to arrange the VITAS pandemics . . .

[Stahlseele]

Immor(t)al Elves. Maybe the odd immor(t)al Vampire.