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"I think parents are wondering why every time industry produces a vaccine it is automatically added to the mandatory list of vaccines for school entry." - Barbara Loe Fisher, ABC's Good Morning America, February 23, 2007

"Gov. Rick Perry's chief of staff met with key aides about a new vaccine to prevent cervical cancer on the same day its manufacturer donated money to his campaign, documents obtained by The Associated Press show. Texas became the first state to require the vaccine against human papillomavirus earlier this month when Perry issued an executive order requiring it for girls entering sixth grade. Lawmakers are considering overriding the measure. A calendar for chief of staff Deirdre Delisi obtained under Texas' open records laws shows she met with the governor's budget director and three members of his office for an "HPV Vaccine for Children Briefing" on Oct. 16. That same day, Merck & Co. (MRK)'s political action committee donated $5,000 to Perry and a total of $5,000 to eight state lawmakers. Perry spokesman Robert Black said the timing of the meeting and the donation was a coincidence. "There was no discussion of any kind of mandates," Black said." - Liz Austin Peterson, Associated Press , February 21, 2007, Vaccine Meeting, Merck Donation Coincide

"Health officials have been cautiously watching for reports of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a paralyzing side effect that has been associated with a few other vaccines. In the reporting period, there were three such cases. "Based on these numbers, it's not worrisome to us that there's any sort of association between the vaccine" and Guillain-Barre, Iskander said. Today, a Virginia-based advocacy group, the National Vaccine Information Center, which focuses on the risks of immunizations, put out a press release warning of Gardasil side effects. The group said health officials did not do enough research into whether the vaccine leads to harmful problems when combined with other shots. But Iskander said there's no evidence Gardasil is harmful in combination with other vaccines. The advocacy group also questioned a movement by some state legislatures to order the vaccine be given to all girls. "We just don't know enough to be mandating Gardasil for anyone, much less vulnerable 11- to 12-year-old girls entering puberty," said Barbara Loe Fisher, the organization's president, in a prepared statement. On Tuesday, Merck announced it was dropping its lobbying campaign to persuade states to make the cancer vaccine required for adolescent girls attending public school." - Mike Stobbe, Associated Press , February 21, 2007,
HPV Vaccine Won't Get New Warnings, Officials Say

Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:

This morning, ABC's "Good Morning America" aired a 7:15 a.m. segment on the controversy about the proposed HPV vaccine mandates, on which I appeared to state "I think parents are wondering why every time industry produces a vaccine it is automatically added to the mandatory list for school entry." Tonight from 9 to 11 p.m. EST the network will broadcast a special two-hour show featuring libertarian John Stossel and his view of how people perceive risks and whether the actions they take to minimize their perceived risks can have unintended consequences. I was interviewed for this show and, today, was informed by A-CHAMP in their Action Alert that the show is entitled "Scared Stiff: Worried in America" and that promotional copy for the show states "Stossel looks at the debate and concludes that activists and lawyers may be killing people by frightening the public about vaccines." In its Action Alert, A-CHAMP said that parents had already contacted ABC to register disapproval of "one-sided and inflammatory programming and promotion." I hope that the segment of this show about vaccine safety concerns of the public is not as one-sided and inflammatory as the promotional rhetoric suggests. If it is, then most likely the goal of the show was to shut down the vaccine safety and informed consent debate that has been taking place in the living rooms of families across America for the past two decades and has begun to be addressed in the public arena during the past two months. There is nothing that anyone can say or do on television or radio or in the pages of medical journals or newspapers which will erase the experience of hundreds of thousands of parents in America, who have witnessed their once healthy children regress physically, mentally and emotionally after receiving one or more government mandated vaccines. The truth about vaccine risks and the perception of those risks belongs to those who take the risk and are left to deal with the consequences: mothers and fathers in America and around the world. Children who are injured or die from vaccination are equally as important as children who are injured or die from infectious diseases. The hallmark of a humane society is to care about all human life and not consider some expendable in service to the rest. The National Vaccine Information Center is proud to stand for the right of citizens to have access to all information about the risks and complications of diseases and the risks and complications of vaccines and the right to make an informed, voluntary decision about which risk to take.