CUTTING OF DOSES

Gary Reaves reports

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FARMERS BRANCH - The State of Texas plans on cutting off shipments of the H1N1 vaccine to a clinic that allegedly is offering up doses to anyone willing to pay.

Star Medical Group, also known as Flu Shots of America, received 11,000 doses at its Farmers Branch clinic. Dallas County received only 10,000 doses. County departments may be the only hope some uninsured North Texans hoping to get vaccinated against the virus.

State authorities are now fielding questions as to why it shipped such a large amount to the clinic and just how has the clinic been choosing who is eligible to get the vaccine

Guidelines for the H1N1 vaccine call for it to go to high-risk patients first.

"We are still looking into it," said Carrie Williams, a state spokeswoman. "We will not be shipping them any more until we get to the bottom of this."

More questions have arisen due to the various names associated with the Star Medical Group. News 8 first found the clinic through a Flu Shots of America website. But, the owner also owns a clinic called Star Medical Group, which is listed under the same location and with almost identical logos. It is under the Star Medical name that the shipments of the vaccine were shipped.

"I think we are working together as a team," said Jeff Vitt, CEO of Star Medical Group and Flu Shots of America, when asked if he believed the state planned on closing the clinic down.

With vaccine doses hard to come by, Star Medical has still only given out about half of the 11,000 they received. Nasal spray is what the clinic has the most in stock. The spray is only suitable for people who don't have any other underlying medical problems.

E-mail greaves@wfaa.com