Comments on Advance Indiana™: HPV Vaccine Debate

Maybe you would allow me to shed some light on thi...

2007-02-13T11:43:00.000-05:00

Maybe you would allow me to shed some light on this from the perspective of a medical doctor.

Why did Governor Rick Perry of Texas reverse his pre–election position and issue an outrageous executive order mandating that all girls in the sixth grade receive the HPV vaccine? He says that it is about saving the lives of women. If this were his true motives, then why did he issue his press release late on the Friday afternoon preceding the Super Bowl? Why didn’t he hold a huge news conference with fanfare, boasting of his efforts?

Perry’s action took place without a single word of public debate. It appears to be a corporate welfare program for Merck, the creator of the vaccine, and will be paid for at the expense of school girls who will be the guinea pigs for this unproven treatment. That’s right, unproven treatment.

This is not a vaccine against cervical cancer; rather it is a vaccine against HPV which is contracted through sexual relations. Merck admits in its own literature that it did not prove that the vaccine would prevent cancer. The HPV vaccine only protects against 4 of the 127 strains of HPV. According to the British medical journal, The Lancet, the vaccine is only effective for 4-1/2 years. A booster injection will be needed every five years. This has not even been discussed. You can count on Merck to lobby to have this booster shot mandated and paid for with tax dollars.

The vaccine was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in mid 2006. Remember the FDA does not perform studies on drugs or vaccines prior to approval. The FDA relies solely on studies performed by drug companies. Only one drug company study is required for approval of a product. Merck performed a five year study of its vaccine using 25,000 women, mostly in third world countries. Only 1184 were pre-teenagers.

The average age of a woman with cervical cancer is 48. The effectiveness or dangers of this vaccine will not be known for at least a decade. Cervical cancer results in just 3,700 deaths nationally every year compared to heart disease which kills over 300,000 women annually.

Pharmaceutical companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars to lobby politicians for legislation which will give them financial benefits. Merck’s lobbying efforts on Governor Perry have paid off handsomely. The HPV vaccine has been coined Merck’s “How to Pay for Vioxx.” Merck manufactured Vioxx, an anti-arthritic drug, which was pulled from the market in 2004 because it had caused 125,000 heart attacks. In lawsuits, Merck was found to have withheld information about the cardiac dangers of Vioxx from the FDA, physicians and patients. In the first of many trials, the jury found Merck guilty of knowingly causing harm and awarded punitive damages amounting to $254 million. Merck lost billions in profits when their corrupt behavior was exposed.

Merck developed a plan to recoup their losses. They organized a strategy to have state governments mandate their HPV vaccine. They contributed to medical organizations and to a group, called Women in Government, to buy support for the mandatory vaccination program, and hired lobbyists to swarm the state capitols across the nation, pushing this legislation. Until now, Merck’s efforts had been rejected, but with the help of Governor Perry’s unprecedented executive order, Merck bypassed the Texas Legislature.

The cost of each vaccination is $360. Perry’s mandate will generate over one hundred million dollars every year for Merck in Texas and, if adopted nationwide, would generate billions of dollars more for Merck every year. It is unethical to bail Merck out of its financial troubles by forcing Texans to buy their product.

The Texas Medical Association opposes mandatory HPV vaccination.

All these facts make the credibility and motivation of Merck highly suspect. Relying on Merck’s studies for approval of this vaccine is like letting the fox to guard the hen house. Merck has already been proven to operate dishonestly.

Perry’s unilateral decision is not based on science but upon personal power, profit and politics. Perry has been trying to position himself as a potential Republican Vice-Presidential candidate.

Hoosiers need to think twice before having this vaccine administered to their daughters.

No public emergency existed for Governor Perry to have assumed dictatorial powers and mandated this vaccine. Perry’s tyrannical actions set a dangerous precedent.

To understand the "religious right" you have to be...

2007-02-08T11:37:00.000-05:00

To understand the "religious right" you have to be a Christian. Since you say that you can't understand us you obviously are not a Christian.

I for one will absolutely oppose this vaccine. I have 2 daughters and I completely agree with the idea that vaccinating my daughters for this implements the idea that it is OK for you to be sexually active. To me it is like saying "here, have some birth control pills just in case you mess up, at least it will protect you from pregnancy."

We live in a free country where we are able to raise our children the way in which we believe. We are free to raise our children with high moral standards and maybe more of you should think of doing the same.

There would be an outcry of people protesting if states were madating prayer (God forbid) in schools but it's OK to protect a young girl against a sexual decision!!

Ideas have consequences, good and bad. The way in which you behave has consequences good and bad. Maybe those of you who say we are trying to stop people from living a pleasurable human life never had consequences for making bad choices and if you did you didn't learn from them!

Remember, Sen. Pat Miller chairs the committee and...

2007-02-03T09:16:00.000-05:00

Remember, Sen. Pat Miller chairs the committee and dictates the state's health care policy based on her rigid, religious right views. She's responsible for watering it down.

I suspect most of the folk here arguing against th...

2007-02-03T08:22:00.000-05:00

I suspect most of the folk here arguing against the vaccine are males - interestingly enough, this legislation was supported unanimously by all the female Senators in the General Assembly.

"It is to those 5,000 women and their families." ...

2007-02-02T17:32:00.000-05:00

"It is to those 5,000 women and their families."

Obviously, but what was stopping them from getting it? Again, why a government mandate for this brand new drug?

Keep in mind that even if the HPV doesn't progress...

2007-02-02T14:13:00.000-05:00

Keep in mind that even if the HPV doesn't progress to cervical cancer, it can act as a conduit for the transmission of other STDs.

"Cervical cancer kills 5,000 women. Just say that ...

2007-02-02T14:04:00.000-05:00

"Cervical cancer kills 5,000 women. Just say that all 5,000 got cervical cancer from HPV. 5,000 out of 150,000,000 people. The risk just isn't there in my opinion."

It is to those 5,000 women and their families.

"They are willing to let people die to prevent us ...

2007-02-02T10:11:00.000-05:00

"They are willing to let people die to prevent us living pleasurable, fully human lives."

Letting people die? Where does this ban others from getting this drug? Are you telling me we have been dumbed down so much, that everything requires a government mandate? Give me a break!

There are 300M people in this country. Say half are female. Cervical cancer kills 5,000 women. Just say that all 5,000 got cervical cancer from HPV. 5,000 out of 150,000,000 people. The risk just isn't there in my opinion. You want the drug, get the drug. My guess is that if in five years, this drug is yanked off the shelf for various problems, you will be here complaining about that as well.

Another sad indication of how frightened and appal...

2007-02-02T09:26:00.000-05:00

Another sad indication of how frightened and appalled these people are about sex. They are willing to let people die to prevent us living pleasurable, fully human lives.

Anon, I did not say all 6.2 million are women or t...

2007-02-02T07:53:00.000-05:00

Anon, I did not say all 6.2 million are women or they wind up with cervical cancer. I did say, "Each year, there are 16,000 cases of cervical cancer diagnosed, causing death to 5,000 women."

"We now know that it causes deadly cervical cancer...

2007-02-02T06:37:00.000-05:00

"We now know that it causes deadly cervical cancer in women. It is estimated about 6.2 million people become infected with the virus each year."

Nice spin here. Seriously, are we going for the scare tactic or something? Using your words, the female part of the 6.2 million people all ended up with cervical cancer. HPV _can_ cause cervical cancer, but it is not always the case.

Considering how so many new drugs end up being pulled, I do not want the government demanding my kid be injected with this stuff. Maybe the first kids to be good test subjects should be those of elected lawmakers. Lets wait 20 years to see the _real_ results of long term clinical trials.

Somehow, I suspect Sen. Miller's subtle hand here....

2007-02-02T06:18:00.000-05:00

Somehow, I suspect Sen. Miller's subtle hand here.

For instance, she felt "compelled" to report to the newspaper, that Sen. Simpson was not present for the vote.

Catty and overly protective of here turf.

And she is blatantly homophobic to boot.

All under the Lord's name, of course.