Nurse’s flu shots were the real thing after all

LYNDEN, Wash. – A nurse’s flu shots suspected of being fake have turned out to be real after all.

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration lab in Cincinnati determined that a vaccine sample provided by the woman was valid flu vaccine, Lynden police reported Saturday. The woman had sold flu shots at three Whatcom County grocery stores.

The FDA also reported that the sample was unadulterated and contained no toxins, Police Chief Jack Foster said in a statement.

The registered nurse who was questioned about the flu shot clinics has not been arrested or charged.

Lynden police said once their investigation is complete, they will forward information to the Whatcom County prosecuting attorney’s office for review.

Police tracked down the flu-shot clinic nurse after recipients of the vaccines reported they did not experience the usual stiffness and soreness associated with flu shots.

The woman, who was not identified, told police she ordered the Aventis Fluzone vaccine from a distributor over the Internet. Police said she provided a sample of the substance she said she had used, and this was sent to the FDA lab for analysis.

The woman set up flu clinics Nov. 5 at Cost Cutter stores in Lynden and Blaine, and Nov. 13 at the Lynden Food Pavilion, said Sue Cole, a spokeswoman with Brown & Cole, which owns the stores.

About 130 shoppers received the injections, each paying $30 cash-only, Cole said.

Cole said the woman had contacted store managers, saying she was affiliated with Visiting Nurse Personal Services or Pacific Medical Consulting and had just received some flu vaccine.

Brown and Cole became suspicious when officials learned that the nursing agency had no knowledge of the woman and they could find no record of Pacific Medical Consulting, police said.

The FDA, the state and Whatcom County health departments, and police in Blaine, Lummi and Everson were working with Lynden police on the investigation.