The United States government is buying enough of the new smallpox medicine Arestvyr to treat two million people in the event of a bioterrorism attack. But the purchase has set off a debate about the lucrative contract, with some experts saying the government is buying too much of the drug at too high a price.  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/health/us-stockpiles-smallpox-drug-in-case-of-bioterror-attack.html?ref=world The $463 million order is a boondoggle or a bargain depends on which expert is talking. The deal will transform the finances of Siga, which is controlled by Ronald O. Perelman, a billionaire financier, philanthropist and takeover specialist. Smallpox was eradicated by 1980, and the only known remaining virus is in government laboratories in the United States. But when stockpiling a smallpox drug was first proposed in 2001 after the Sept. 11 and anthrax attacks, it was expected to cost only $5 to $10 per course. There was little need for so much Arestvyr since the country has raised its stockpile of smallpox vaccine to 300 million doses now, up from only 15 million in 2001.“Is it appropriate to stockpile it? Absolutely. Is it appropriate to stockpile two million doses? Absolutely not. Twenty thousand seems like the right number.”  Without a profit potential, no company would take up smallpox, Ebola and other lethal but very rare disease. Bioterrorism experts say the need for Arestvyr has declined since the United States increased its stockpile of smallpox vaccine, which was once given to people routinely before the disease was brought under control, including a less potent but less risky backup vaccine for those who cannot tolerate the standard one.“If they’re talking $250 a course, they’re a bunch of thieves,”