by Barbara Loe Fisher
On Jan. 15, a House health subcommittee in the Virginia legislature voted 13-9 along party lines to approve legislation introduced by Delegate Bob Marshall (R) to delay until the fall of 2010 implementation of a new HPV vaccine mandate approved by the legislature and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine (D) last year. Governor Kaine disagreed with the move to push back the date because he said that parents can "opt-out" of giving the vaccine to their daughters for any reason. It is anticipated that the bill to delay the HPV vaccine mandate deadline for implementation will face stronger opposition in the Senate.
The bill to delay the HPV vaccine mandate in Virginia was supported by parent groups concerned about rushing an HPV vaccine mandate when serious adverse events following administration of Merck's GARDASIL to young girls continue to be reported. Since GARDASIL was licensed in 2006, serious health problems reported to VAERS and NVIC include sudden loss of consciousness, seizures/convulsions, head injuries and fractures, Guillain Barre syndrome, joint swelling, blood disorders, abnormal cervical smears, spontaneous abortions and other adverse outcomes following receipt of GARDASIL.
http://www.nvic.org/Diseases/HPV/HP VHOME.htm
Parents opposed to the Virginia HPV vaccine mandate also question whether most parents will be informed there is an "opt-out" provision which does not require filing a medical or religious exemption and whether the bureaucratic process for "opting-out" will be easy or complicated. There have been no clear guidelines issued for how the "opt-out" process will work.
The Virginia legislature stands alone as the only state government to mandate GARDASIL vaccine. Every other state has rejected proposed mandates aggressively pushed by Merck last year. Major medical organizations, including the American Cancer Society and the American Medical Association, have declined HPV vaccine mandates in favor of legislation encouraging parent/child education about HPV infection and the vaccine, as well as cost reimbursement for those families who want their daughters to get vaccinated voluntarily.
An American Cancer Society official was quoted as saying "It is one thing to endorse the use of a vaccine against cervical cancer, but altogether another thing to require children to get it."
In the 1970's, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommended that doctors give children 23 doses of 7 vaccines (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, polio) and most state legislatures mandated 4 or 5 of them for school entry. With the addition of 3 doses of HPV vaccine for girls, by 2008, CDC recommendations directed doctors to give children 56 doses of 16 vaccines (girls) or 53 doses of 15 vaccines (boys).
Most states in America currently mandate about 10 of the federally recommended vaccines (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, HIB, hepatitis B, chickenpox) for school attendance. Some states are also instituting daycare and school mandates for pneumococcal, meningococcal, hepatitis A and influenza vaccines.
The New Jersey health department, under rule making authority handed over by the state legislature, recently imposed new pneumococcal and influenza vaccine mandates on children attending daycare as well as meningococcal and Tdap vaccine requirements for children attending middle school. New Jersey becomes the first state to mandate influenza vaccine and also the state with the highest number of mandated vaccinations for children: 35 doses of 13 vaccines.
The more vaccines state governments mandate, the greater the potential for a backlash from parents weary of their children being made pincushions by federal health officials who automatically recommend for universal use every vaccine the pharmaceutical industry creates for children. HPV vaccine - whether marketed by Merck or GlaxoSmithKline - should not be mandated. The ACA spokesperson is right: it is one thing to make HPV vaccine available for those voluntarily choosing to use it. It is quite another matter to force HPV vaccine on a child under threat of exclusion from school, particularly without the voluntary, informed consent of the child's parents.
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"Legislation passed by a House committee would stall Virginia's unique requirement that girls be vaccinated against human papillomavirus, or HPV, to fall 2010, instead of fall 2009.....Gov. Tim Kaine said yesterday that he didn't think it should be pushed back because of the opt-out clause, but that he won't stand in the way if that is what legislators want. "It is available and yet no one is required for any reason to get it," Mr. Kaine said. "Since it really is an opt-in, I don't know that we need to push it back." Several national medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Cancer Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics, support giving the vaccine to girls but have not endorsed mandates. "It is one thing to endorse the use of a vaccine against cervical cancer, but altogether another to require children to get it," said Robert A. Smith, director of cancer screening for the American Cancer Society. Mr. Smith and others said it would have been better for Virginia to promote education on the vaccine and for funding to ensure availability for those who want it, rather than require it. " - Dena Potter, Associated Press, January 16, 2008
Showing posts with label HPV Mandates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HPV Mandates. Show all posts
Going for the Throat: Hyping HPV Vaccine for Young Boys
"Gardasil may generate more than $3 billion in annual sales for Whitehouse Station, New Jersey- based Merck, analysts say. The best way to reduce cancer-causing HPV is to widen the pool of children vaccinated with Gardasil, the researchers say. Merck is studying the shot in boys and plans to seek U.S. approval for that use, said spokeswoman Kelly Dougherty. ``We would encourage industry and scientists to study the efficacy in boys and men so the vaccination program can be expanded,'' said Erich Sturgis, associate professor of head and neck surgery at M.D. Anderson and the report's lead author, in an interview..... ``Changing sexual practices such as more frequent oral sex in adolescents and young adults could contribute to an increase in oncogenic HPV- associated oropharyngeal cancers,'' researchers said in the report. Tonsil cancers have increased 4 percent and tongue cancers 2 percent a year in the past 30 years among adults younger than 45, according to studies cited in the review. Many of the cancers were among non-smokers, which points to HPV as the culprit behind the rise in the cancers, M.D. Anderson researchers said.....Approved in June 2006, Gardasil generated $723 million in sales during the first half of this year. Head and neck cancers are the latest malignancies tied to HPV infection generating attention from health experts that would like to see broader use of the Merck vaccine." - Angela Zimm, Bloomberg News (August 27, 2007)
"Almost all cervical cancers are caused by the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, or HPV. Merck's Gardasil targets strains responsible for 70 percent to 80 percent of these cancers. Vaccinating girls before they are sexually active is useful because it can prevent infection from developing into cancer later in life. Mandating the shot may ensure wider use. ``Effective education programs and mandatory vaccination will probably provide the greatest and fastest reduction in the incidence of cervical cancer,'' Hopkins scientists Richard Roden and T.C. Wu wrote in the scientific journal Nature Reviews Cancer, published on line today..... The Hopkins scientists join a growing number of health and government experts calling for mandated HPV vaccination programs....``If you want to have a significant reduction, making the vaccine mandatory would generate the better impact,'' co-author Wu, a professor of pathology at Hopkins, said in an interview....." - Angela Zimm, Bloomberg News (September 26, 2006)
"It is worth noting that HPV vaccine trials have demonstrated only protection against HPV- related genital pre-cancers, not cancer. Is spending public money on HPV vaccination of all girls and young women appropriate, when cash-strapped communities could put the funds to other uses? This may be the most difficult question of all. It leads immediately to another question: Does Merck need to charge $360 per person for the vaccine as it does now? According to Glenn McGee of Albany Medical College, Merck could recoup in several years its development costs for this and other vaccines that never made it to market by charging one-tenth the current price (assuming that sales continue at the current rate). Merck says it calculated the price taking into account research and development costs as well as what the vaccine could save in terms of HPV-related treatment expenses. It argues that the long-term cost savings justify the unusually high price for this vaccine. Other analyses (for example, a British Columbia Cancer Agency report) disagree with these calculations and conclude that the cost of vaccination greatly outweighs the amount saved by avoiding treatment of HPV-related disease. As we consider how to proceed on HPV vaccination, a clear understanding of the research -- not marketing claims or lobbying funds -- needs to guide both our individual decisions and our public policy." - Judy Norsigian and Heather Stephenson, Women's E-News (September 7, 2007)
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
If vaccine manufacturers can't generate the profits they promised stockholders by persuading state legislators to mandate a newly licensed vaccine, then they will find another way to bring in the money. In this case, Merck and the doctors in academia and research, who are developing and promoting widespread use of HPV vaccines, are going after the young boy market following a failure this year to get HPV vaccine mandated for pre-teen girls in every state.
Almost exactly one year ago, scientists developing HPV vaccines at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere were joining with doctors in calling for mandatory vaccination of all young girls with Merck's newly licensed HPV vaccine, Gardasil. But the push for mandated use of Gardasil by all 11 year old girls was rejected by states due to parent protests against mandates after NVIC pointed out lack of scientific data proving Gardasil safety and efficacy in young girls and other parent groups protested mandates for a sexually transmitted disease that could not be acquired in the school setting.
Seeking to capture the numbers that will give them the projected profits they would have secured if they had succeeded in getting Gardasil mandated for all 11 year old girls in every state, Merck and HPV vaccine developers are attempting to widen the pool of vaccine candidates by alleging that more teens today are engaging in oral sex and that is why there has been an increase in HPV-associated cancers of the tongue, tonsils and throat in boys. This, say scientists at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, is reason enough to call for universal HPV vaccination of all young boys.
The call for all young boys to get a vaccine that was developed to prevent cervical cancer in women will help Merck out in its quest for the $3 billion dollar annual market it dreamed of when it tried to get the vaccine mandated for all young girls. It will also potentially help secure profits for GlaxoSmithKline when its HPV vaccine, Cervarix, is licensed. One of the authors of a recent article in Cancer, which pointed out that oral cancer increases among boys makes them perfect candidates for HPV vaccination, has been a consultant for Sanofi-Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline, Xemova and Pfizer.
I remember admiring scientists and doctors when I was growing up in the 1950's and 1960's. Everyone knew they worked hard to help people and make the world better even though they were not paid very much money. Now doctors and scientists are paid a lot of money and they have assumed positions of power in government, industry and academia, where they lobby in the media and state legislatures to secure predictable and lucrative markets for the pharmaceutical products they create or profit from promoting either directly or indirectly.
It is highly inappropriate for doctors or scientists to lobby for forced use of vaccines or any other pharmaceutical product. The people deserve better from the men and women we pay to provide us with wise and unbiased counsel about making informed health care choices for ourselves and our children. We should not feel like we need to check out their stock portfolio or origin of their university's research grants before deciding whether we should trust their advice or not.
"Almost all cervical cancers are caused by the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, or HPV. Merck's Gardasil targets strains responsible for 70 percent to 80 percent of these cancers. Vaccinating girls before they are sexually active is useful because it can prevent infection from developing into cancer later in life. Mandating the shot may ensure wider use. ``Effective education programs and mandatory vaccination will probably provide the greatest and fastest reduction in the incidence of cervical cancer,'' Hopkins scientists Richard Roden and T.C. Wu wrote in the scientific journal Nature Reviews Cancer, published on line today..... The Hopkins scientists join a growing number of health and government experts calling for mandated HPV vaccination programs....``If you want to have a significant reduction, making the vaccine mandatory would generate the better impact,'' co-author Wu, a professor of pathology at Hopkins, said in an interview....." - Angela Zimm, Bloomberg News (September 26, 2006)
"It is worth noting that HPV vaccine trials have demonstrated only protection against HPV- related genital pre-cancers, not cancer. Is spending public money on HPV vaccination of all girls and young women appropriate, when cash-strapped communities could put the funds to other uses? This may be the most difficult question of all. It leads immediately to another question: Does Merck need to charge $360 per person for the vaccine as it does now? According to Glenn McGee of Albany Medical College, Merck could recoup in several years its development costs for this and other vaccines that never made it to market by charging one-tenth the current price (assuming that sales continue at the current rate). Merck says it calculated the price taking into account research and development costs as well as what the vaccine could save in terms of HPV-related treatment expenses. It argues that the long-term cost savings justify the unusually high price for this vaccine. Other analyses (for example, a British Columbia Cancer Agency report) disagree with these calculations and conclude that the cost of vaccination greatly outweighs the amount saved by avoiding treatment of HPV-related disease. As we consider how to proceed on HPV vaccination, a clear understanding of the research -- not marketing claims or lobbying funds -- needs to guide both our individual decisions and our public policy." - Judy Norsigian and Heather Stephenson, Women's E-News (September 7, 2007)
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
If vaccine manufacturers can't generate the profits they promised stockholders by persuading state legislators to mandate a newly licensed vaccine, then they will find another way to bring in the money. In this case, Merck and the doctors in academia and research, who are developing and promoting widespread use of HPV vaccines, are going after the young boy market following a failure this year to get HPV vaccine mandated for pre-teen girls in every state.
Almost exactly one year ago, scientists developing HPV vaccines at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere were joining with doctors in calling for mandatory vaccination of all young girls with Merck's newly licensed HPV vaccine, Gardasil. But the push for mandated use of Gardasil by all 11 year old girls was rejected by states due to parent protests against mandates after NVIC pointed out lack of scientific data proving Gardasil safety and efficacy in young girls and other parent groups protested mandates for a sexually transmitted disease that could not be acquired in the school setting.
Seeking to capture the numbers that will give them the projected profits they would have secured if they had succeeded in getting Gardasil mandated for all 11 year old girls in every state, Merck and HPV vaccine developers are attempting to widen the pool of vaccine candidates by alleging that more teens today are engaging in oral sex and that is why there has been an increase in HPV-associated cancers of the tongue, tonsils and throat in boys. This, say scientists at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, is reason enough to call for universal HPV vaccination of all young boys.
The call for all young boys to get a vaccine that was developed to prevent cervical cancer in women will help Merck out in its quest for the $3 billion dollar annual market it dreamed of when it tried to get the vaccine mandated for all young girls. It will also potentially help secure profits for GlaxoSmithKline when its HPV vaccine, Cervarix, is licensed. One of the authors of a recent article in Cancer, which pointed out that oral cancer increases among boys makes them perfect candidates for HPV vaccination, has been a consultant for Sanofi-Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline, Xemova and Pfizer.
I remember admiring scientists and doctors when I was growing up in the 1950's and 1960's. Everyone knew they worked hard to help people and make the world better even though they were not paid very much money. Now doctors and scientists are paid a lot of money and they have assumed positions of power in government, industry and academia, where they lobby in the media and state legislatures to secure predictable and lucrative markets for the pharmaceutical products they create or profit from promoting either directly or indirectly.
It is highly inappropriate for doctors or scientists to lobby for forced use of vaccines or any other pharmaceutical product. The people deserve better from the men and women we pay to provide us with wise and unbiased counsel about making informed health care choices for ourselves and our children. We should not feel like we need to check out their stock portfolio or origin of their university's research grants before deciding whether we should trust their advice or not.
CA Politicians Forcing HPV Vaccine
"If AB 16, and companion bills SB 533 and SB 676 are enacted, the following mandatory vaccine schedule will be imposed on every child from birth to 12 years old in California beginning on July 1, 2008. Every year thereafter, all new vaccines recommended by ACIP will be routinely added as well, with no limit on the number of new vaccines that can be added at one time. With over 300 new vaccines currently in development, there will be no end to the madness. If AB 16 and the others become law, in less then one year children in California will be receiving 14 more shots then they are receiving today. " - Rick Rollens, Parent, Founder MIND Institute
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
California is on its way to becoming the first state to mandate Merck's GARDASIL vaccine for all 11 year old girls.
In a July 5 NVIC E-News, we reported that the California legislators, who were sponsors of the failed HPV vaccine mandate earlier this year, were working with drug companies and doctors to make sure the public is never able to stop a new vaccine mandate again. They are sponsoring three bills that would re- write California public health law and make sure every vaccine marketed by Merck and other drug companies that is recommended by federal health officials now and in the future would be automatically mandated despite any public opposition. The original versions of the bills have been amended in the last few days to eliminate the five year waiting period after a new vaccine has been licensed by the FDA and make ALL existing and new vaccines, including Merck's GARDASIL, recommended by the CDC automatically mandated by July 1, 2008.
Merck has been very busy in the state of California.
With heavy lobbying by drug company lobbyists making and selling vaccines, together with medical organization lobbyists whose physician members profit from administering vaccines in their offices, Representative Ed Hernandez, an optometrist (D-West Covina) and Senators Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-26th District) and Leland Yee, Ph.D., a psychologist (D-San Franciso/San Mateo) are the three politicians most responsible for helping drug companies and doctors ram three pieces of legislation (AB 16, SB 533 and SB 676) through the California legislature.
Tomorrow, July 11, members of the Senate Health Committee are scheduled to vote on AB 16, including Senators Ridley-Thomas and Leland Yee. If AB16 or companion bills SB 533 and SB 676 are enacted, all 11 year old girls in California will be mandated to use GARDASIL beginning in July 2008 and all children will be required to use every other vaccine the CDC has ever endorsed.
Following is a list of members and email links of the Senate Health Committee members, whose vote tomorrow could hand over power to mandate new vaccines to one unelected Public Health Officer employed by the state, who takes direction from unelected federal public health employees in Atlanta. br> Click on their names to register YOUR vote.
Senator Sheila Kuehl (Chair)
Senator Samuel Aanestad (Vice Chair)
Senator Elaine Alquist
Senator Gilbert Cedillo
Senator Dave Cox
Senator Abel Maldonado
Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod
Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas
Senator Darrell Steinberg
Senator Mark Wyland
Senator Leland Yee
Click here to contact AB 16 sponsor Assemblyman Ed Hernandez, O.D. (D-57th District):
Click here to contact SB 676 sponsor Senator Mark Ridley- Thomas, Ph.D. (D-26th District):
"Click here to contact SB 533 sponsor Senator Leland Yee, Ph.D. (D-San Francisco/San Mateo):
The CDC currently recommends children get 49 doses of 14 vaccines by age six. This is double the numbers of vaccines the government "recommended" 25 years ago. If AB 16 or one of the two other companion bills become law, the numbers of vaccines California children are required to get could double or triple within the next decade and there will be nothing parents can do about it.
Following is a list of vaccines the CDC says all children should get and when they should get them:
Birth
Hepatitis B
2 months old
diphtheria
tetanus
pertussis
HIB
polio
pneumococcal
rotavirus
hepatitis B
4 months old
diphtheria
tetanus
pertussis
HIB
polio
pneumococcal
rotavirus
6 months old
diphtheria
tetanus
pertussis
HIB
pneumococcal
rotavirus
hepatitis B
influenza
12-18 months old
diphtheria
tetanus
pertussis
HIB
polio
measles
mumps
rubella
chicken pox
pneumococcal
influenza
hepatitis A (2 doses)
Two years old
influenza
Three years old
influenza
Four Years old
influenza
Five Years old
influenza
4-6 years old
diphtheria
tetanus
pertussis
polio
measles
mumps
rubella
chicken pox
11-12 years old
diphtheria
tetanus
pertussis
HPV (3 doses for girls)
meningococcal
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
California is on its way to becoming the first state to mandate Merck's GARDASIL vaccine for all 11 year old girls.
In a July 5 NVIC E-News, we reported that the California legislators, who were sponsors of the failed HPV vaccine mandate earlier this year, were working with drug companies and doctors to make sure the public is never able to stop a new vaccine mandate again. They are sponsoring three bills that would re- write California public health law and make sure every vaccine marketed by Merck and other drug companies that is recommended by federal health officials now and in the future would be automatically mandated despite any public opposition. The original versions of the bills have been amended in the last few days to eliminate the five year waiting period after a new vaccine has been licensed by the FDA and make ALL existing and new vaccines, including Merck's GARDASIL, recommended by the CDC automatically mandated by July 1, 2008.
Merck has been very busy in the state of California.
With heavy lobbying by drug company lobbyists making and selling vaccines, together with medical organization lobbyists whose physician members profit from administering vaccines in their offices, Representative Ed Hernandez, an optometrist (D-West Covina) and Senators Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-26th District) and Leland Yee, Ph.D., a psychologist (D-San Franciso/San Mateo) are the three politicians most responsible for helping drug companies and doctors ram three pieces of legislation (AB 16, SB 533 and SB 676) through the California legislature.
Tomorrow, July 11, members of the Senate Health Committee are scheduled to vote on AB 16, including Senators Ridley-Thomas and Leland Yee. If AB16 or companion bills SB 533 and SB 676 are enacted, all 11 year old girls in California will be mandated to use GARDASIL beginning in July 2008 and all children will be required to use every other vaccine the CDC has ever endorsed.
Following is a list of members and email links of the Senate Health Committee members, whose vote tomorrow could hand over power to mandate new vaccines to one unelected Public Health Officer employed by the state, who takes direction from unelected federal public health employees in Atlanta. br> Click on their names to register YOUR vote.
Senator Sheila Kuehl (Chair)
Senator Samuel Aanestad (Vice Chair)
Senator Elaine Alquist
Senator Gilbert Cedillo
Senator Dave Cox
Senator Abel Maldonado
Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod
Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas
Senator Darrell Steinberg
Senator Mark Wyland
Senator Leland Yee
Click here to contact AB 16 sponsor Assemblyman Ed Hernandez, O.D. (D-57th District):
Click here to contact SB 676 sponsor Senator Mark Ridley- Thomas, Ph.D. (D-26th District):
"Click here to contact SB 533 sponsor Senator Leland Yee, Ph.D. (D-San Francisco/San Mateo):
The CDC currently recommends children get 49 doses of 14 vaccines by age six. This is double the numbers of vaccines the government "recommended" 25 years ago. If AB 16 or one of the two other companion bills become law, the numbers of vaccines California children are required to get could double or triple within the next decade and there will be nothing parents can do about it.
Following is a list of vaccines the CDC says all children should get and when they should get them:
Birth
Hepatitis B
2 months old
diphtheria
tetanus
pertussis
HIB
polio
pneumococcal
rotavirus
hepatitis B
4 months old
diphtheria
tetanus
pertussis
HIB
polio
pneumococcal
rotavirus
6 months old
diphtheria
tetanus
pertussis
HIB
pneumococcal
rotavirus
hepatitis B
influenza
12-18 months old
diphtheria
tetanus
pertussis
HIB
polio
measles
mumps
rubella
chicken pox
pneumococcal
influenza
hepatitis A (2 doses)
Two years old
influenza
Three years old
influenza
Four Years old
influenza
Five Years old
influenza
4-6 years old
diphtheria
tetanus
pertussis
polio
measles
mumps
rubella
chicken pox
11-12 years old
diphtheria
tetanus
pertussis
HPV (3 doses for girls)
meningococcal
Pap Clears HPV; Majority Reject Vaccine Mandate
"The act of performing a Papanicolaou smear produces an inflammatory cytokine response, which may initiate immunologic clearance of human papillomavirus (HPV) and reduce the risk of cervical cancer, South African investigators propose in the April 24th online issue of the Journal of Inflammation.....Women who had even a single Pap smear in their history had a lower incidence of cancer. Dr. Passmore's team also observed that "a statistically significant decline in the HPV positivity rate correlated with the lifetime number of Pap smears received"........"This is the first study to our knowledge to investigate the effect of a Pap smear on cervical inflammation," the Cape Town researchers say. The findings, they conclude, are "an important step towards understanding whether these local Pap smear- associated responses are one of the factors initiating more long-term protection from HPV infection and clearance." - Reuters News Service, Pap Smears Cause Cytokine Response That May Help Clear HPV, MEDSCAPE , May 14, 2007
"The National Poll on Children's Health also asked parents if they felt, in general, that newly available vaccines were safe for their children..... less than one-half of parents (43%) agreed or strongly agreed that new vaccines are safe for their children. The majority either disagreed that new vaccines are safe for their children (8%) or were neutral (49%). There was a strong relationship between parents' perception of the safety of new vaccines and their views on vaccine mandates. Most parents (75%) who disagreed that new vaccines are generally safe opposed HPV school mandates, and 26% of parents who were neutral on vaccine safety opposed HPV mandates." - C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Too often in the past quarter century, the push to mandate newly licensed vaccines is based more on ideology, money and politics than on evidence based science. Although public health officials have convinced pediatricians to believe that vaccine injuries and deaths are either a myth or do not matter because the good of "the herd" trumps the value of individual life, parents aren't buying it anymore. Case in point: the rush to put policy before science did not work with the newly licensed HPV vaccine, GARDASIL, marketed by Merck.
HPV infection is a viral infection experienced by most people after they become sexually active with one or more partners, who have also been sexually active with one or more partners. It is an infection which is naturally and asymptomatically cleared from the body by more than 90 percent of girls and women who contract it. In the tiny minority of women, who do not naturally clear the HPV virus from the body and go on to develop chronic infection, the majority can prevent cervical cancer with regular pap smears that can detect pre-cancerous cervical lesions so they can be treated.
But now, there is even more evidence that regular pap smears are a powerful and cost effective weapon in the effort to end cervical cancer. The performing of a pap smear, according to a study published in the April 24 Journal of Inflammation, may help to produce an inflammatory response which initiates immunologic clearance of the HPV virus from a women's body. This would help explain why, in addition to early detection of pre-cancerous cervical lesions, the aggressive pap smear campaign in the US since the 1950's has been so successful in generating a 70 percent drop in cervical cancer cases in the US. It would also help explain why cervical cancer is the number one cancer killer of women in underdeveloped countries, where women living in poverty do not get routine physical exams and pap smears.
In the past six months, public opposition to proposed HPV vaccine mandates for 11 year old girls in America has reflected the fact that Americans are starting to understand what NVIC has been saying for more than two decades: when it comes to vaccines, policy often precedes science. HPV vaccine mandates for sixth grade girls pushed by Merck lobbyists seeking to capture the lucrative US market and endorsed by "public health" proponents who have never seen a vaccine they didn't want everyone to take, have been rejected in almost every state legislature in the US. Elected representatives in the states chose to listen to the voters who elected them rather than do the bidding of Merck.
And now, there is quantifiable evidence that public opposition to HPV vaccine mandates is not primarily focused on concern that kids will have sex too soon. A National Poll on Children's Health, conducted through C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and published by the University of Michigan, found that only 44 pecent of American parents support HPV vaccine mandates for young girls. They also found that only 43 percent of American parents agree that new vaccines are safe for their children and that "there was a strong relationship between parents' perception of the safety of new vaccines and their views on vaccine mandates. Most parents (75%) who disagreed that new vaccines are generally safe opposed HPV school mandates."
Public opposition to HPV vaccine mandates, then, is based on public opposition to being forced to use a vaccine for which policy has preceded science.
Before there is any more talk about HPV vaccine mandates and universal use by all pre-adolescent girls of this new vaccine, there needs to be more basic science research into the biological mechanisms as well as environmental and genetic factors involved in HPV infection, clearance, persistence, and resistance; and research into the biological mechanisms as well as environmental and genetic factors involved in HPV vaccine induced brain and immune system dysfunction, infertility, miscarriage, development of pre- cancerous lesions in girls vaccinated while actively infected with HPV vaccine types contained in the vaccine, and long term effectiveness.
The American public is smarter than public health officials, doctors and drug company lobbyists give them credit for being. People do not want to use or have their children be required to use vaccines which have not been proven safe, effective or necessary.
************************************************************************
Majority of U.S. Parents Not in Favor of State HPV Vaccine Mandates
C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health
A publication from the University of Michigan Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases and the University of Michigan Child Health Evaluation and Research (CHEAR) Unit.
Vol. 1, Issue 3; May 22, 2007
Report Highlights
*Only 44% of parents support a school mandate for the HPV vaccine for girls entering 9th grade.
*Parent support is stronger (68%) for a mandate for another new teen vaccine that prevents tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough (Tdap).
*Parents of older children are less likely to favor a mandate for the HPV vaccine.
*Parents concerned about safety of new childhood vaccines are less likely to support an HPV vaccine mandate.
In 2006, vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) was recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for all girls aged 11-12 years old. The currently available vaccine prevents infections by 4 different types of HPV, transmitted through sexual contact, that cause cervical cancer and genital warts.
States' legislative action regarding HPV vaccine has generated considerable attention. Virginia has enacted a law requiring HPV vaccination for entry into 9th grade, and 24 other states (including D.C.) have introduced bills to mandate that girls receive the 3- dose HPV vaccine series.
Advocates say that mandates that require children receive certain vaccines before they can enter daycare or school are known to boost immunization rates and protect children's health. Opponents say that vaccination mandates take health decisions out of the hands of parents. The debate is amplified for the HPV vaccine, because the vaccine prevents a major disease-cancer- but HPV infections would not be expected to affect school attendance like other infections for which vaccine mandates exist. Critics also cite concern about the HPV vaccine's cost and safety, and others express moral objections to a vaccine mandate for a sexually transmitted infection.
The C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health asked parents if they would support a state law that requires girls to receive HPV vaccine before entering 9th grade. As a comparison, parents were also asked if they would support a state law requiring boys and girls to get a new booster vaccine that protects against tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough (Tdap), also before entering 9th grade.
As shown in Figure 1, parents were far more likely to support a state school entry mandate for the Tdap vaccine (68%) than for the HPV vaccine (44%). Moreover, 26% of parents strongly disagree or disagree with a HPV vaccine mandate - nearly three times the proportion who disagree with the Tdap mandate.
Women (48%) were more likely than men (38%) to support a state mandate for HPV vaccine. Of note, parents of teens (ages 13-17) were less likely to support an HPV vaccine mandate (40%) than were parents of children 6-12 years old (44%) and parents of children younger than 6 years old (53%).
Parents with public insurance (Medicaid and Medicare) were more likely to support HPV vaccine mandates than parents with private insurance or no coverage.
There were no differences in support for mandates for HPV or Tdap vaccine by region or race/ethnicity, and there was no consistent pattern by parent education, household income or parent age. As shown in Figure 2, the rank order of the top 3 health problems for children differed by the race/ethnicity of the person surveyed. While the list was similar for Hispanics and other race/ethnicity groups to the overall rankings, among whites alcohol abuse nudged above childhood obesity as the third biggest concern.
Attitudes About Vaccine Safety and Mandates
The National Poll on Children's Health also asked parents if they felt, in general, that newly available vaccines were safe for their children. As shown in Figure 2, less than one-half of parents (43%) agreed or strongly agreed that new vaccines are safe for their children. The majority either disagreed that new vaccines are safe for their children (8%) or were neutral (49%).
There was a strong relationship between parents' perception of the safety of new vaccines and their views on vaccine mandates. Most parents (75%) who disagreed that new vaccines are generally safe opposed HPV school mandates, and 26% of parents who were neutral on vaccine safety opposed HPV mandates. Among parents who agreed that vaccines are generally safe, only 16% opposed an HPV mandate. In contrast, among parents who agreed that vaccines are generally safe, 61% supported an HPV mandate.
State Legislation and Parent Opinion on Mandates
The National Poll on Children's Health included responses from parents in 48 states and the District of Columbia. Responses of parents in Virginia and 24 states (including D.C.) considering legislation about HPV school mandates were compared with responses of parents in the remainder of states, to see whether their attitudes about mandates differ.
Overall, there were no significant differences in parent opinions on a state mandate for HPV vaccination for girls when comparing responses from states with an existing mandate or pending legislation (45% in favor of mandates) to states that have not introduced HPV mandate legislation (42% in favor of mandates). In addition, there were no significant differences in opinions between these two groups regarding school mandates for Tdap vaccine.
Implications
State mandates regarding vaccination upon school entry have long been effective ways to help safeguard children's health, but they have become increasingly controversial. In the case of HPV vaccine, mandate proponents argue that states should encourage parents to prevent their daughters from getting cervical cancer caused by HPV infection. Mandate opponents say that HPV vaccination should not be required because the infection is not communicated through respiratory contact and therefore does not pose the same danger to health of school communities as other illnesses prevented by mandated vaccines. Of note, the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics support universal HPV vaccination for girls but do not support mandates for HPV vaccine.
In this National Poll on Children's Health, we found that less than one-half of US parents favor an HPV vaccine mandate for school entry. Moreover, one- quarter of parents unequivocally disagree with HPV vaccine mandates. In contrast, more than two-thirds of parents favor a mandate regarding the new Tdap vaccine - although such a mandate has not been considered by states so widely as HPV mandates.
These findings indicate that the American public is able to distinguish between new vaccines, and that legislative action on HPV may be somewhat disconnected from public sentiment. Ultimately, HPV vaccination efforts may lack the boost given by school entry mandates to other broadly recommended vaccines.
Datasource
This report presents findings from a nationally representative household survey conducted exclusively by Knowledge Networks, Inc, for C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. The survey was administered from March 14- 26, 2007, to a randomly selected, stratified group of adults aged 18 and older with and without children from the Knowledge Networks standing panel that closely resembles the U.S. population. The sample was subsequently weighted to reflect the U.S. population figures from the Census Bureau. The response rate was 73% among Knowledge Networks panel members contacted to participate. This report reflects responses from a subsample of 1342 parents.
C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health
Director: Matthew M. Davis, MD, MAPP Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Internal Medicine and Public Policy
Editor: Dianne C. Singer, MPH Research Associate
"The National Poll on Children's Health also asked parents if they felt, in general, that newly available vaccines were safe for their children..... less than one-half of parents (43%) agreed or strongly agreed that new vaccines are safe for their children. The majority either disagreed that new vaccines are safe for their children (8%) or were neutral (49%). There was a strong relationship between parents' perception of the safety of new vaccines and their views on vaccine mandates. Most parents (75%) who disagreed that new vaccines are generally safe opposed HPV school mandates, and 26% of parents who were neutral on vaccine safety opposed HPV mandates." - C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Too often in the past quarter century, the push to mandate newly licensed vaccines is based more on ideology, money and politics than on evidence based science. Although public health officials have convinced pediatricians to believe that vaccine injuries and deaths are either a myth or do not matter because the good of "the herd" trumps the value of individual life, parents aren't buying it anymore. Case in point: the rush to put policy before science did not work with the newly licensed HPV vaccine, GARDASIL, marketed by Merck.
HPV infection is a viral infection experienced by most people after they become sexually active with one or more partners, who have also been sexually active with one or more partners. It is an infection which is naturally and asymptomatically cleared from the body by more than 90 percent of girls and women who contract it. In the tiny minority of women, who do not naturally clear the HPV virus from the body and go on to develop chronic infection, the majority can prevent cervical cancer with regular pap smears that can detect pre-cancerous cervical lesions so they can be treated.
But now, there is even more evidence that regular pap smears are a powerful and cost effective weapon in the effort to end cervical cancer. The performing of a pap smear, according to a study published in the April 24 Journal of Inflammation, may help to produce an inflammatory response which initiates immunologic clearance of the HPV virus from a women's body. This would help explain why, in addition to early detection of pre-cancerous cervical lesions, the aggressive pap smear campaign in the US since the 1950's has been so successful in generating a 70 percent drop in cervical cancer cases in the US. It would also help explain why cervical cancer is the number one cancer killer of women in underdeveloped countries, where women living in poverty do not get routine physical exams and pap smears.
In the past six months, public opposition to proposed HPV vaccine mandates for 11 year old girls in America has reflected the fact that Americans are starting to understand what NVIC has been saying for more than two decades: when it comes to vaccines, policy often precedes science. HPV vaccine mandates for sixth grade girls pushed by Merck lobbyists seeking to capture the lucrative US market and endorsed by "public health" proponents who have never seen a vaccine they didn't want everyone to take, have been rejected in almost every state legislature in the US. Elected representatives in the states chose to listen to the voters who elected them rather than do the bidding of Merck.
And now, there is quantifiable evidence that public opposition to HPV vaccine mandates is not primarily focused on concern that kids will have sex too soon. A National Poll on Children's Health, conducted through C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and published by the University of Michigan, found that only 44 pecent of American parents support HPV vaccine mandates for young girls. They also found that only 43 percent of American parents agree that new vaccines are safe for their children and that "there was a strong relationship between parents' perception of the safety of new vaccines and their views on vaccine mandates. Most parents (75%) who disagreed that new vaccines are generally safe opposed HPV school mandates."
Public opposition to HPV vaccine mandates, then, is based on public opposition to being forced to use a vaccine for which policy has preceded science.
Before there is any more talk about HPV vaccine mandates and universal use by all pre-adolescent girls of this new vaccine, there needs to be more basic science research into the biological mechanisms as well as environmental and genetic factors involved in HPV infection, clearance, persistence, and resistance; and research into the biological mechanisms as well as environmental and genetic factors involved in HPV vaccine induced brain and immune system dysfunction, infertility, miscarriage, development of pre- cancerous lesions in girls vaccinated while actively infected with HPV vaccine types contained in the vaccine, and long term effectiveness.
The American public is smarter than public health officials, doctors and drug company lobbyists give them credit for being. People do not want to use or have their children be required to use vaccines which have not been proven safe, effective or necessary.
************************************************************************
Majority of U.S. Parents Not in Favor of State HPV Vaccine Mandates
C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health
A publication from the University of Michigan Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases and the University of Michigan Child Health Evaluation and Research (CHEAR) Unit.
Vol. 1, Issue 3; May 22, 2007
Report Highlights
*Only 44% of parents support a school mandate for the HPV vaccine for girls entering 9th grade.
*Parent support is stronger (68%) for a mandate for another new teen vaccine that prevents tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough (Tdap).
*Parents of older children are less likely to favor a mandate for the HPV vaccine.
*Parents concerned about safety of new childhood vaccines are less likely to support an HPV vaccine mandate.
In 2006, vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) was recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for all girls aged 11-12 years old. The currently available vaccine prevents infections by 4 different types of HPV, transmitted through sexual contact, that cause cervical cancer and genital warts.
States' legislative action regarding HPV vaccine has generated considerable attention. Virginia has enacted a law requiring HPV vaccination for entry into 9th grade, and 24 other states (including D.C.) have introduced bills to mandate that girls receive the 3- dose HPV vaccine series.
Advocates say that mandates that require children receive certain vaccines before they can enter daycare or school are known to boost immunization rates and protect children's health. Opponents say that vaccination mandates take health decisions out of the hands of parents. The debate is amplified for the HPV vaccine, because the vaccine prevents a major disease-cancer- but HPV infections would not be expected to affect school attendance like other infections for which vaccine mandates exist. Critics also cite concern about the HPV vaccine's cost and safety, and others express moral objections to a vaccine mandate for a sexually transmitted infection.
The C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health asked parents if they would support a state law that requires girls to receive HPV vaccine before entering 9th grade. As a comparison, parents were also asked if they would support a state law requiring boys and girls to get a new booster vaccine that protects against tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough (Tdap), also before entering 9th grade.
As shown in Figure 1, parents were far more likely to support a state school entry mandate for the Tdap vaccine (68%) than for the HPV vaccine (44%). Moreover, 26% of parents strongly disagree or disagree with a HPV vaccine mandate - nearly three times the proportion who disagree with the Tdap mandate.
Women (48%) were more likely than men (38%) to support a state mandate for HPV vaccine. Of note, parents of teens (ages 13-17) were less likely to support an HPV vaccine mandate (40%) than were parents of children 6-12 years old (44%) and parents of children younger than 6 years old (53%).
Parents with public insurance (Medicaid and Medicare) were more likely to support HPV vaccine mandates than parents with private insurance or no coverage.
There were no differences in support for mandates for HPV or Tdap vaccine by region or race/ethnicity, and there was no consistent pattern by parent education, household income or parent age. As shown in Figure 2, the rank order of the top 3 health problems for children differed by the race/ethnicity of the person surveyed. While the list was similar for Hispanics and other race/ethnicity groups to the overall rankings, among whites alcohol abuse nudged above childhood obesity as the third biggest concern.
Attitudes About Vaccine Safety and Mandates
The National Poll on Children's Health also asked parents if they felt, in general, that newly available vaccines were safe for their children. As shown in Figure 2, less than one-half of parents (43%) agreed or strongly agreed that new vaccines are safe for their children. The majority either disagreed that new vaccines are safe for their children (8%) or were neutral (49%).
There was a strong relationship between parents' perception of the safety of new vaccines and their views on vaccine mandates. Most parents (75%) who disagreed that new vaccines are generally safe opposed HPV school mandates, and 26% of parents who were neutral on vaccine safety opposed HPV mandates. Among parents who agreed that vaccines are generally safe, only 16% opposed an HPV mandate. In contrast, among parents who agreed that vaccines are generally safe, 61% supported an HPV mandate.
State Legislation and Parent Opinion on Mandates
The National Poll on Children's Health included responses from parents in 48 states and the District of Columbia. Responses of parents in Virginia and 24 states (including D.C.) considering legislation about HPV school mandates were compared with responses of parents in the remainder of states, to see whether their attitudes about mandates differ.
Overall, there were no significant differences in parent opinions on a state mandate for HPV vaccination for girls when comparing responses from states with an existing mandate or pending legislation (45% in favor of mandates) to states that have not introduced HPV mandate legislation (42% in favor of mandates). In addition, there were no significant differences in opinions between these two groups regarding school mandates for Tdap vaccine.
Implications
State mandates regarding vaccination upon school entry have long been effective ways to help safeguard children's health, but they have become increasingly controversial. In the case of HPV vaccine, mandate proponents argue that states should encourage parents to prevent their daughters from getting cervical cancer caused by HPV infection. Mandate opponents say that HPV vaccination should not be required because the infection is not communicated through respiratory contact and therefore does not pose the same danger to health of school communities as other illnesses prevented by mandated vaccines. Of note, the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics support universal HPV vaccination for girls but do not support mandates for HPV vaccine.
In this National Poll on Children's Health, we found that less than one-half of US parents favor an HPV vaccine mandate for school entry. Moreover, one- quarter of parents unequivocally disagree with HPV vaccine mandates. In contrast, more than two-thirds of parents favor a mandate regarding the new Tdap vaccine - although such a mandate has not been considered by states so widely as HPV mandates.
These findings indicate that the American public is able to distinguish between new vaccines, and that legislative action on HPV may be somewhat disconnected from public sentiment. Ultimately, HPV vaccination efforts may lack the boost given by school entry mandates to other broadly recommended vaccines.
Datasource
This report presents findings from a nationally representative household survey conducted exclusively by Knowledge Networks, Inc, for C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. The survey was administered from March 14- 26, 2007, to a randomly selected, stratified group of adults aged 18 and older with and without children from the Knowledge Networks standing panel that closely resembles the U.S. population. The sample was subsequently weighted to reflect the U.S. population figures from the Census Bureau. The response rate was 73% among Knowledge Networks panel members contacted to participate. This report reflects responses from a subsample of 1342 parents.
C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health
Director: Matthew M. Davis, MD, MAPP Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Internal Medicine and Public Policy
Editor: Dianne C. Singer, MPH Research Associate
TX Gov Rants About Failed HPV Vaccine Mandate
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"I have never seen so much misinformation spread about a vital public health issue: whether it is the effectiveness of the vaccine, the impact of the order on parents' decision-making authority, or the impact this will have on the behavior of young women....I have wrestled for a few days with whether to veto this bill, or let it become law without my signature. But the fact of the matter is, it will become law no matter what because the voice of the Legislature is clear. And rather than allowing this issue to be held captive one more day by legislative politics and the inevitable posturing that will ensue during a veto override debate, I have decided to let it become law without my signature...." - Texas Governor Rick Perry
"A veto almost certainly would have been overridden by Texas legislators, who have questioned the vaccine's safety, efficacy and cost and complained that the governor's mandate would intrude on families' lives. Lawmakers also were outraged that he didn't consult with them before issuing the order.....Republican Rep. Dennis Bonnen bristled at the governor's criticism of his bill. "We should not and are now not going to offer the 165,000 11-year-olds in Texas up to be the study group for Merck to find out what the implications of this vaccine would be for these girls," he said." - Liz Austin Peterson, Associated Press, May 9, 2007
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Texas Governor Rick Perry, who crowned himself King back in February when he issued an Executive Order mandating HPV vaccine for all 11 year old girls, had a public tantrum yesterday at a press conference in which he castigated the Texas legislature for having the audacity to override his abuse of executive power. While he ranted and called the legislators who dared to defy him names, he again failed to mention that his former chief of staff is now a lobbyist for Merck, the only drug company with an HPV vaccine (GARDASIL) on the market. Adopting Merck's favorite public relations strategy to deflect attention from the legitimate product safety issues, Perry once again tried to make it all about parents being upset about kids having sex too soon rather than parents being upset about their 11 year old daughters being forced to use a vaccine that was only tested for a few years in a few hundred 11 year old girls prior to licensure.
The National Vaccine Information Center, as well as the federal vaccine adverse events reporting system (VAERS), continues to receive reports that young girls are experiencing serious reactions to GARDASIL. Young girls are collapsing into unconsciousness and injuring themselves, having seizures and suffering facial paralysis, Guillain Barre syndrome, speech and vision problems and other severe health deterioriation that leaves unable to function normally after being injected with GARDASIL. Yesterday, the Governor of Texas engaged in the worst kind of political posturing to make excuses for trying to force girls entering adolescence to use an experimental vaccine to prevent an infection that cannot be transmitted in the school setting for a cancer that has declined by more than 74 percent in the US since the 1950's and, today, causes fewer than one percent of all cancers diagnosed in the US and fewer than one percent of all cancer deaths in the US.
Appropriately, the elected representatives of the Texas legislature have spoken, not just to slap the hands of a Governor who abused his executive power, but they have spoken on behalf of the majority of Texas citizens who elected them. The only way the American people can exercise their will in a democracy is to make their concerns known to the men and women, who they elect to represent them in state legislatures and in Congress, and ask them to act.
The people of Texas have spoken on the subject of HPV vaccine mandates through their elected representatives in the state legislature. The people of California would do well to think twice before they give up their power to speak through their elected representatives about future vaccine mandates and hand it over to unelected public health officials in the executive branch.
"I have never seen so much misinformation spread about a vital public health issue: whether it is the effectiveness of the vaccine, the impact of the order on parents' decision-making authority, or the impact this will have on the behavior of young women....I have wrestled for a few days with whether to veto this bill, or let it become law without my signature. But the fact of the matter is, it will become law no matter what because the voice of the Legislature is clear. And rather than allowing this issue to be held captive one more day by legislative politics and the inevitable posturing that will ensue during a veto override debate, I have decided to let it become law without my signature...." - Texas Governor Rick Perry
"A veto almost certainly would have been overridden by Texas legislators, who have questioned the vaccine's safety, efficacy and cost and complained that the governor's mandate would intrude on families' lives. Lawmakers also were outraged that he didn't consult with them before issuing the order.....Republican Rep. Dennis Bonnen bristled at the governor's criticism of his bill. "We should not and are now not going to offer the 165,000 11-year-olds in Texas up to be the study group for Merck to find out what the implications of this vaccine would be for these girls," he said." - Liz Austin Peterson, Associated Press, May 9, 2007
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Texas Governor Rick Perry, who crowned himself King back in February when he issued an Executive Order mandating HPV vaccine for all 11 year old girls, had a public tantrum yesterday at a press conference in which he castigated the Texas legislature for having the audacity to override his abuse of executive power. While he ranted and called the legislators who dared to defy him names, he again failed to mention that his former chief of staff is now a lobbyist for Merck, the only drug company with an HPV vaccine (GARDASIL) on the market. Adopting Merck's favorite public relations strategy to deflect attention from the legitimate product safety issues, Perry once again tried to make it all about parents being upset about kids having sex too soon rather than parents being upset about their 11 year old daughters being forced to use a vaccine that was only tested for a few years in a few hundred 11 year old girls prior to licensure.
The National Vaccine Information Center, as well as the federal vaccine adverse events reporting system (VAERS), continues to receive reports that young girls are experiencing serious reactions to GARDASIL. Young girls are collapsing into unconsciousness and injuring themselves, having seizures and suffering facial paralysis, Guillain Barre syndrome, speech and vision problems and other severe health deterioriation that leaves unable to function normally after being injected with GARDASIL. Yesterday, the Governor of Texas engaged in the worst kind of political posturing to make excuses for trying to force girls entering adolescence to use an experimental vaccine to prevent an infection that cannot be transmitted in the school setting for a cancer that has declined by more than 74 percent in the US since the 1950's and, today, causes fewer than one percent of all cancers diagnosed in the US and fewer than one percent of all cancer deaths in the US.
Appropriately, the elected representatives of the Texas legislature have spoken, not just to slap the hands of a Governor who abused his executive power, but they have spoken on behalf of the majority of Texas citizens who elected them. The only way the American people can exercise their will in a democracy is to make their concerns known to the men and women, who they elect to represent them in state legislatures and in Congress, and ask them to act.
The people of Texas have spoken on the subject of HPV vaccine mandates through their elected representatives in the state legislature. The people of California would do well to think twice before they give up their power to speak through their elected representatives about future vaccine mandates and hand it over to unelected public health officials in the executive branch.
VA Gov Amends HPV Law: Parents To Decide
"Last month, the [Virginia] House and Senate passed bills to require all girls entering the sixth grade to get the vaccine for the human papillomavirus, or HPV. Del. Phillip Hamilton's bill requires parents wishing to exempt their children from the vaccine to fill out a form from the State Board of Health Regulations for the Immunization of School Children. Kaine's amendment would eliminate the need for parents or guardians to submit written requests for their children to opt out of the vaccine, called Gardasil. "While I believe that this vaccine shows great promise for preventing cancer, I believe that the decision to administer this vaccine should be made by parents," Kaine said in a statement. "My amendments further clarify the provision that a girl's parent or guardian has complete discretion to decide whether their child should be vaccinated." - Kristen Gelineau, AP, Daily Press, March 26, 2007, Kaine proposes HPV vaccine amendment; restaurant smoking ban
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Congratulations to Virginia Governor Tim Kaine for having the wisdom and vision to amend the nation's first HPV vaccine mandate to an "opt-in" and not an "opt-out" requirement for girls entering the sixth grade. Virginia parents will now have, in the Governor's words, "complete discretion" in choosing whether or not their 11 year old daughters will get three doses of HPV vaccine. Parents will not have to sign a written statement declining the vaccine for records kept by state government health officials.
Governor Kaine and Virginia legislators have come under intense pressure by Merck lobbyists seeking to persuade Virginia and many other states to mandate that girls entering sixth grade get three doses of GARDASIL, a vaccine fast tracked at the FDA and quickly recommended in 2006 by the CDC for girls entering puberty. However, there has been a nationwide parent backlash to the aggressive advertising and lobbying campaign by Merck to require use of GARDASIL for young school girls.
Parent-led organizations, such as NVIC, have opposed vaccine mandates citing lack of vaccine safety and efficacy data for girls under age 16 and questioning the rationale for mandated use of a vaccine for an infection that cannot be transmitted in the public setting for a cancer that has dropped 74 percent in the past four decades because routine pap screening has become standard health care for women in America. Other parent-led organizations oppose the government requiring pre-adolescent girls to use a vaccine for a sexually transmitted disease before they are sexually active because it potentially interferes with parental influence in the teaching of moral values.
Governor Kaine did the right thing: after weighing the benefits and risks of signing the HPV vaccine mandate, he amended it to reflect the will of the people. He gave back to parents and pediatricians the decision of whether or not an 11 year old girl living in Virginia should get three doses of HPV vaccine. And he wisely rejected the idea that the names of those who decline HPV vaccine for their daughters should be put on an "opt-out" list kept by state health officials.
Governors in every state would do well to take note of the vision that Governor Kaine has demonstrated and follow his lead. Education, not coercion, is the best way to encourage citizens to take responsibility for the health care choices they make for themselves and their children. Cost and access barriers to vaccine use can be lowered through legislation without using legislation to force vaccine use upon citizens against their will.
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Congratulations to Virginia Governor Tim Kaine for having the wisdom and vision to amend the nation's first HPV vaccine mandate to an "opt-in" and not an "opt-out" requirement for girls entering the sixth grade. Virginia parents will now have, in the Governor's words, "complete discretion" in choosing whether or not their 11 year old daughters will get three doses of HPV vaccine. Parents will not have to sign a written statement declining the vaccine for records kept by state government health officials.
Governor Kaine and Virginia legislators have come under intense pressure by Merck lobbyists seeking to persuade Virginia and many other states to mandate that girls entering sixth grade get three doses of GARDASIL, a vaccine fast tracked at the FDA and quickly recommended in 2006 by the CDC for girls entering puberty. However, there has been a nationwide parent backlash to the aggressive advertising and lobbying campaign by Merck to require use of GARDASIL for young school girls.
Parent-led organizations, such as NVIC, have opposed vaccine mandates citing lack of vaccine safety and efficacy data for girls under age 16 and questioning the rationale for mandated use of a vaccine for an infection that cannot be transmitted in the public setting for a cancer that has dropped 74 percent in the past four decades because routine pap screening has become standard health care for women in America. Other parent-led organizations oppose the government requiring pre-adolescent girls to use a vaccine for a sexually transmitted disease before they are sexually active because it potentially interferes with parental influence in the teaching of moral values.
Governor Kaine did the right thing: after weighing the benefits and risks of signing the HPV vaccine mandate, he amended it to reflect the will of the people. He gave back to parents and pediatricians the decision of whether or not an 11 year old girl living in Virginia should get three doses of HPV vaccine. And he wisely rejected the idea that the names of those who decline HPV vaccine for their daughters should be put on an "opt-out" list kept by state health officials.
Governors in every state would do well to take note of the vision that Governor Kaine has demonstrated and follow his lead. Education, not coercion, is the best way to encourage citizens to take responsibility for the health care choices they make for themselves and their children. Cost and access barriers to vaccine use can be lowered through legislation without using legislation to force vaccine use upon citizens against their will.
Vaccine Maker, Lawmakers Reject HPV Vaccine Mandates
"Giving it to 11-year-olds is a great big public health experiment," said Diane M. Harper, who is a scientist, physician, professor and the director of the Gynecologic Cancer Prevention Research Group at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire. "It is silly to mandate vaccination of 11- to 12-year-old girls. There also is not enough evidence gathered on side effects to know that safety is not an issue.....So far more than 40 cases of Guillian-Barre syndrome - a dangerous immune disorder that causes tingling, numbness and even paralysis of the muscles have been reported in girls who have received the HPV vaccine in combination with the meningitis vaccine. Scientists already know that sometimes a vaccine can trigger the syndrome in a subject. "With the HPV vaccine, it is a small number but higher than is expected, and we don't know if it's the combination of the two, or the meningitis alone," Harper said." - Cindy Bevington, Fort Wayne Daily News (Indiana), March 14, 2007, Researcher Blasts HPV Marketing
"A State Senate panel has rejected a watered-down proposal, designed to encourage cervical cancer vaccinations for young girls. Lawmakers refused to approve a version that would only require doctors to tell parents about the shots. The original bill would have required sixth-grade girls to get the vaccination unless their parents signed a refusal form. Sponsor and Democratic Senator Suzanne Williams of Aurora scaled it back hoping to gain more support. But even the weaker version fell short. The Senate Appropriations Committee deadlocked on a 5- to-5 vote, so the bill will NOT move on to the full Senate." - Associated Press, KKTV-11 News (Colorado)HPV Vaccination Bill Fails
"A Georgia member of Congress yesterday introduced legislation to prohibit federal money from being used by states to make vaccines against the human papillomavirus (HPV) mandatory for school- age children. "Mandating the HPV vaccination is both unprecedented and unacceptable," said Rep. Phil Gingrey, a Republican, who is an obstetrician and gynecologist. "Whether or not girls get vaccinated against HPV is a decision for parents and physicians, not state governments." The Washington Times, March 16, 2007, Proposal Blocks Funding for HPV Vaccine
"Although no data exist on administration of quadrivalent HPV vaccine with vaccines other than hepatitis B vaccine, quadrivalent HPV vaccine is not a live vaccine and has no components that adversely impact safety or efficacy of other vaccinations. Quadrivalent HPV vaccine can be administered at the same visit as other age appropriate vaccines, such as the Tdap and quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate (MCV4) vaccines. Administering all indicated vaccines together at a single visit increases the likelihood that adolescents and young adults will receive each of the vaccines on schedule." - Lauri Markowitz, M.D. et al, ACIP, Morbidity & Mortality Report March 12, 2007
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
The American people are speaking out about HPV vaccine mandates. In every public poll that is taken by the print or broadcast media, a majority of responders vote "NO" when asked if they want HPV vaccine mandates for sixth grade girls. Some state legislators have responded to the will of the people, like in Colorado, and have voted "No" to proposed mandates. A visionary physician member of the U.S. Congress, Georgia's Rep. Phil Gingrey, has introduced legislation to prohibit federal money from being used by states to mandate HPV vaccine. But other legislators, such as those in Virginia, have already quickly voted "yes" to HPV vaccine mandates. They apparently chose to listen to Merck rather than listening to the people who voted them into office.
While the people are saying "NO MANDATES" and the politicians are voting for or against mandates, NVIC continues to monitor GARDASIL adverse event reports being filed in VAERS, as well as counsel women and parents of daughters who suffered sudden collapse with seizure activity; pain, tingling, and numbness in hands; speech and vision loss and other serious health problems after being injected with GARDASIL.
Now, an HPV vaccine researcher has spoken out publicly in opposition to mandates, citing among other concerns the fact that there have been 40 cases of GBS reported after GARDASIL was given simultaneously with meningococcal vaccine. At the same time, the CDC published its official HPV vaccine recommendation in the Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, instructing doctors to give GARDASIL in combination with other vaccines, including meningococcal vaccine, even though they admit "no data exist on administration of quadrivalent HPV vaccine with vaccines other than hepatitis B vaccine...."
CDC officials associated with these recommendations are exhibiting an appalling lack of concern for individual and public health by cavalierly recommending that GARDASIL be given to every 11 year old girl in America, when they know that Merck only studied the vaccine in a few hundred 11 year old girls. This callous disregard for human life is compounded by telling doctors to give GARDASIL to little girls in combination with other vaccines when "no data exist" to support the safety of that policy.
Tragically, most doctors blindly trust the scientific validity of CDC vaccine recommendations. Many doctors refuse to report serious health problems suffered by children after vaccination because CDC officials have taught them to believe that vaccine associated health problems are a "coincidence" and have nothing to do with the vaccine(s) recently given to a child. Fewer than 10 percent of all doctors obey the safety provisions in the federal National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, which includes mandatory reporting of vaccine adverse events because there are no sanctions for failing to report.
Just this week, a mother told NVIC that her daughter's doctor refused to report to VAERS that her daughter suffered a sudden collapse with seizure activity and other neurological signs within 30 minutes of being injected with GARDASIL. How many more doctors are refusing to report because they are in collective denial about vaccine risks?
The lesson that America is learning from the GARDASIL fiasco is that those who operate America's mass vaccination program arrogantly wield their considerable power by negligently putting policy before science and money before lives. There is about $4 billion dollars riding on the successful mandating of HPV vaccine for every girl in America, but trillions more riding on the precedent it will set.
The rollout of HPV vaccine today, marked by a callous indifference for minimizing vaccine injuries, is paving the way for the rollout of HIV vaccine tomorrow. One day soon the CDC and vaccine manufacturers will be telling the public that a little bit of the virus associated with AIDS injected into our children won't hurt them at all, especially if it is given with many other vaccines at the same time. They will try to politicize the ensuing debate by making it all about sex and poor kids not having access in order to try to divert attention from the lack of scientific proof the vaccine is safe and effective in children. The HIV vaccine ads will blanket the airwaves and editorials will call for pre-teens to line up and roll up their sleeves. Every state legislator in the country will be pressured to vote for school mandates.
And nobody will have a clue about just how dangerous that future HIV vaccine is for either individual or public health.
No forced vaccination. Not in America.
"A State Senate panel has rejected a watered-down proposal, designed to encourage cervical cancer vaccinations for young girls. Lawmakers refused to approve a version that would only require doctors to tell parents about the shots. The original bill would have required sixth-grade girls to get the vaccination unless their parents signed a refusal form. Sponsor and Democratic Senator Suzanne Williams of Aurora scaled it back hoping to gain more support. But even the weaker version fell short. The Senate Appropriations Committee deadlocked on a 5- to-5 vote, so the bill will NOT move on to the full Senate." - Associated Press, KKTV-11 News (Colorado)HPV Vaccination Bill Fails
"A Georgia member of Congress yesterday introduced legislation to prohibit federal money from being used by states to make vaccines against the human papillomavirus (HPV) mandatory for school- age children. "Mandating the HPV vaccination is both unprecedented and unacceptable," said Rep. Phil Gingrey, a Republican, who is an obstetrician and gynecologist. "Whether or not girls get vaccinated against HPV is a decision for parents and physicians, not state governments." The Washington Times, March 16, 2007, Proposal Blocks Funding for HPV Vaccine
"Although no data exist on administration of quadrivalent HPV vaccine with vaccines other than hepatitis B vaccine, quadrivalent HPV vaccine is not a live vaccine and has no components that adversely impact safety or efficacy of other vaccinations. Quadrivalent HPV vaccine can be administered at the same visit as other age appropriate vaccines, such as the Tdap and quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate (MCV4) vaccines. Administering all indicated vaccines together at a single visit increases the likelihood that adolescents and young adults will receive each of the vaccines on schedule." - Lauri Markowitz, M.D. et al, ACIP, Morbidity & Mortality Report March 12, 2007
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
The American people are speaking out about HPV vaccine mandates. In every public poll that is taken by the print or broadcast media, a majority of responders vote "NO" when asked if they want HPV vaccine mandates for sixth grade girls. Some state legislators have responded to the will of the people, like in Colorado, and have voted "No" to proposed mandates. A visionary physician member of the U.S. Congress, Georgia's Rep. Phil Gingrey, has introduced legislation to prohibit federal money from being used by states to mandate HPV vaccine. But other legislators, such as those in Virginia, have already quickly voted "yes" to HPV vaccine mandates. They apparently chose to listen to Merck rather than listening to the people who voted them into office.
While the people are saying "NO MANDATES" and the politicians are voting for or against mandates, NVIC continues to monitor GARDASIL adverse event reports being filed in VAERS, as well as counsel women and parents of daughters who suffered sudden collapse with seizure activity; pain, tingling, and numbness in hands; speech and vision loss and other serious health problems after being injected with GARDASIL.
Now, an HPV vaccine researcher has spoken out publicly in opposition to mandates, citing among other concerns the fact that there have been 40 cases of GBS reported after GARDASIL was given simultaneously with meningococcal vaccine. At the same time, the CDC published its official HPV vaccine recommendation in the Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, instructing doctors to give GARDASIL in combination with other vaccines, including meningococcal vaccine, even though they admit "no data exist on administration of quadrivalent HPV vaccine with vaccines other than hepatitis B vaccine...."
CDC officials associated with these recommendations are exhibiting an appalling lack of concern for individual and public health by cavalierly recommending that GARDASIL be given to every 11 year old girl in America, when they know that Merck only studied the vaccine in a few hundred 11 year old girls. This callous disregard for human life is compounded by telling doctors to give GARDASIL to little girls in combination with other vaccines when "no data exist" to support the safety of that policy.
Tragically, most doctors blindly trust the scientific validity of CDC vaccine recommendations. Many doctors refuse to report serious health problems suffered by children after vaccination because CDC officials have taught them to believe that vaccine associated health problems are a "coincidence" and have nothing to do with the vaccine(s) recently given to a child. Fewer than 10 percent of all doctors obey the safety provisions in the federal National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, which includes mandatory reporting of vaccine adverse events because there are no sanctions for failing to report.
Just this week, a mother told NVIC that her daughter's doctor refused to report to VAERS that her daughter suffered a sudden collapse with seizure activity and other neurological signs within 30 minutes of being injected with GARDASIL. How many more doctors are refusing to report because they are in collective denial about vaccine risks?
The lesson that America is learning from the GARDASIL fiasco is that those who operate America's mass vaccination program arrogantly wield their considerable power by negligently putting policy before science and money before lives. There is about $4 billion dollars riding on the successful mandating of HPV vaccine for every girl in America, but trillions more riding on the precedent it will set.
The rollout of HPV vaccine today, marked by a callous indifference for minimizing vaccine injuries, is paving the way for the rollout of HIV vaccine tomorrow. One day soon the CDC and vaccine manufacturers will be telling the public that a little bit of the virus associated with AIDS injected into our children won't hurt them at all, especially if it is given with many other vaccines at the same time. They will try to politicize the ensuing debate by making it all about sex and poor kids not having access in order to try to divert attention from the lack of scientific proof the vaccine is safe and effective in children. The HIV vaccine ads will blanket the airwaves and editorials will call for pre-teens to line up and roll up their sleeves. Every state legislator in the country will be pressured to vote for school mandates.
And nobody will have a clue about just how dangerous that future HIV vaccine is for either individual or public health.
No forced vaccination. Not in America.
HPV Mandate Debate Continues
Since we don't consider our children alley cats or any danger to public health, we reserve the right to make decisions about each and every invasive medical procedure including all vaccines. Kentucky politicians must think we are too inept to be granted that right as parents. Now that Kentucky legislators are allowed to behave like Stalin in promoting corporate agendas for non-contagious diseases, the ball is rolling downhill for intrusion into all realms of personal choice. Since Kentucky schools are no longer an option for my children to return to, I intend to move out of state with them." - Doreen Carlson, Central Kentucky News-Journal , March 12, 2007, Vaccine Has Forced Me Out of State
"We are not against vaccine availability, just vaccine mandates," says Fisher. While she concedes that every state but two has some kind of opt-out clause for parents who object to the vaccine for health, religious, moral or ethical reasons, she says parents who refuse immunization are harassed. "Your name goes on a state list. You get harassing calls from the CDC for your views on vaccines. Some families get thrown off health insurance plans, thrown out of their pediatricians' offices, thrown out of public schools — or parents are put in a room and grilled by officials about the depth of their religious convictions on this." - Karen Houppert, The Nation, also CBS News.com, March 11, 2007, The Fight Against Mandating An HPV Vaccine Has Made Strange Bedfellows Of Many Groups
"With such widespread HPV infection, a vaccination plan might seem like a reasonable idea. The issue takes on a special significance in our home because we have a 13-year-old daughter. But while we did conclude that the vaccine is right for our daughter, I think the decision to vaccinate a child with this particular vaccine should be made by the patient, her parents and their doctor. Not the state." - Benjamin Brewer, M.D., Wall Street Journal , March 8, 2007, Why Mandatory Vaccine May Not Be the Answer
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
The intense public debate about whether the state should force parents to inject their adolescent daughters with a poorly tested and potentially unsafe vaccine to prevent an infection that cannot be transmitted in the public setting rages on while legislators in 36 states either fast track, amend, table, withdraw or rescind HPV vaccine mandates.
In Texas, the House of Representatives today voted 119 to 21 to prohibit an HPV vaccine mandate in Texas, effectively rescinding Rick Perry's Feb. 2 Executive Order mandating the vaccine for girls entering sixth grade (for more information on what is happening in Texas, go to www.vaccineinfo.net ) In Virginia and New Mexico, legislators have recently sent HPV vaccine mandates to their Governor's desks for signing. (To find out what your state is doing, go to www.nvic.org, click on "HPV Infection and Gardasil" on the homepage and then click on "Check Proposed HPV Vaccine Mandates in Your State")
The majority of Americans do not want state governments forcing their 11 year old daughters to get three doses of HPV vaccine in order to attend sixth grade. Most Americans support the availability of the HPV vaccine with no cost or access barriers to those parents who want their daughters to get the vaccine but they do not support HPV vaccine mandates.
America's mandatory vaccination system is in critical need of reform. The National Vaccine Information Center has been working for 25 years to institute safety and informed consent protections in America's vaccination system. It is time for federal and state public health officials, the pharmaceutical industry and physician organizations to listen to the people. A system that will not bend will break.
"We are not against vaccine availability, just vaccine mandates," says Fisher. While she concedes that every state but two has some kind of opt-out clause for parents who object to the vaccine for health, religious, moral or ethical reasons, she says parents who refuse immunization are harassed. "Your name goes on a state list. You get harassing calls from the CDC for your views on vaccines. Some families get thrown off health insurance plans, thrown out of their pediatricians' offices, thrown out of public schools — or parents are put in a room and grilled by officials about the depth of their religious convictions on this." - Karen Houppert, The Nation, also CBS News.com, March 11, 2007, The Fight Against Mandating An HPV Vaccine Has Made Strange Bedfellows Of Many Groups
"With such widespread HPV infection, a vaccination plan might seem like a reasonable idea. The issue takes on a special significance in our home because we have a 13-year-old daughter. But while we did conclude that the vaccine is right for our daughter, I think the decision to vaccinate a child with this particular vaccine should be made by the patient, her parents and their doctor. Not the state." - Benjamin Brewer, M.D., Wall Street Journal , March 8, 2007, Why Mandatory Vaccine May Not Be the Answer
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
The intense public debate about whether the state should force parents to inject their adolescent daughters with a poorly tested and potentially unsafe vaccine to prevent an infection that cannot be transmitted in the public setting rages on while legislators in 36 states either fast track, amend, table, withdraw or rescind HPV vaccine mandates.
In Texas, the House of Representatives today voted 119 to 21 to prohibit an HPV vaccine mandate in Texas, effectively rescinding Rick Perry's Feb. 2 Executive Order mandating the vaccine for girls entering sixth grade (for more information on what is happening in Texas, go to www.vaccineinfo.net ) In Virginia and New Mexico, legislators have recently sent HPV vaccine mandates to their Governor's desks for signing. (To find out what your state is doing, go to www.nvic.org, click on "HPV Infection and Gardasil" on the homepage and then click on "Check Proposed HPV Vaccine Mandates in Your State")
The majority of Americans do not want state governments forcing their 11 year old daughters to get three doses of HPV vaccine in order to attend sixth grade. Most Americans support the availability of the HPV vaccine with no cost or access barriers to those parents who want their daughters to get the vaccine but they do not support HPV vaccine mandates.
America's mandatory vaccination system is in critical need of reform. The National Vaccine Information Center has been working for 25 years to institute safety and informed consent protections in America's vaccination system. It is time for federal and state public health officials, the pharmaceutical industry and physician organizations to listen to the people. A system that will not bend will break.
HPV Vaccine Order Unleashes Parents Anger
"Health experts are dismayed by the controversy over Merck's Gardasil, which protects against two common forms of the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer. But it has hardly surprised them. Never has compulsory use of a drug been pushed with such breakneck speed -- with concerted lobbying by its manufacturer...."Why is this happening so fast? Why is there a mandate when this is such a different kind of disease?" asked Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center, a nonprofit consumer organization that opposes HPV legislation. Most states did not add the chickenpox vaccine to schoolchildren's immunization schedules until several years after its approval in the mid-1990s, she noted." - Susan Levine, Washington Post , March 4, 2007, Parents Question HPV Vaccine
"More than 5,900 e-mails and printed notes have been sent to Perry about his Feb. 2 executive order that girls entering the sixth grade in 2008 be vaccinated against the human papilloma virus, which causes most cases of cervical cancer...."Please, reconsider. Please, return parental choices, control, power to parents," wrote Bette D. Bittner of Caldwell. Ned Funnell of Longview also told Perry the decision to vaccinate belongs to parents, not the state.....of the e- mails and letters on the vaccine received by the governor's office as of Tuesday, 89 percent opposed his order, while 11 percent favored it......Most of the e- mails and letters on the cervical cancer vaccine were from Texans, with about 1,500 coming from out of state...." - Kelly Shannon, Associated Press March 7, 2007, Vaccine Order Unleases Flood of Anger
" I am happy our Senate [Indiana] chose to scale down the legislation before they approved it and not make the vaccine mandatory for young girls across the state. Legislation that makes it mandatory, I believe, takes away a parent's right but also the child's choice to get the vaccine, especially when the side effects of the vaccine hasn't been studied for any lengthy period of time. Who knows what disastrous side effects the vaccine could have. I'm not sure if it is worth the risk....A vaccine against HPV to prevent cervical cancer isn't the only answer, and only time will tell whether it is even an answer at all. However, I do know there are many more damaging killers in the world that should be getting the attention that Merck and Gardasil have brought to cervical cancer." - Tonya Windell, Corydon Democrat Gardasil Vaccine Should Be Parent's Choice, March 7, 2007
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
There is a message that is being sent by parents to the Centers for Disease Control, drug companies, medical organizations and legislators in every state in response to proposed HPV vaccine mandates: we are not going to sit back and watch more vaccines be added to the long list of mandatory vaccinations for our children without having something to say about it. Parents, who have never questioned vaccine mandates before, joined with parents, who have been questioning vaccine mandates for a long time, and have drawn a line in the sand on forced vaccination with a vaccine that has not been proven safe in little girls for an infection that cannot be transmitted in the school setting.
For 25 years, the National Vaccine Information has been a strong advocate for the right to informed consent to vaccination as part of a broader national campaign to prevent vaccine injuries and deaths through public education. We have long questioned why, every time the pharmaceutical industry produces a new vaccine, it is automatically recommended for universal use by the CDC and AAP and automatically added by states to the mandatory list of vaccines required for children to get an education.
It has never been a secret to those of us working with parents, who have difficulty obtaining medical, religious and conscientious belief exemptions to vaccination, that drug companies, public health officials and medical organizations lobby hard to get new vaccines mandated. Thanks to Merck's heavy handed lobbying efforts using a Merck-funded "non- profit" organization to carry out its blitzkrieg introduction of HPV vaccine mandates in several dozen states, the whole nation now understands that new vaccine mandates are powered by the CDC's "universal use" recommendations and drug company-financed lobbying campaigns.
After a quarter century of remaining underground, the debate about state-forced vaccination is now taking place publicly. Much to the surprise of many doctors and lawmakers, a majority of parents across the country are standing up and saying "Show us the science and give us a choice." Mothers and fathers of vaccine injured children, who learned the hard way just how important it is to make well informed vaccine choices, are not surprised at all.
"More than 5,900 e-mails and printed notes have been sent to Perry about his Feb. 2 executive order that girls entering the sixth grade in 2008 be vaccinated against the human papilloma virus, which causes most cases of cervical cancer...."Please, reconsider. Please, return parental choices, control, power to parents," wrote Bette D. Bittner of Caldwell. Ned Funnell of Longview also told Perry the decision to vaccinate belongs to parents, not the state.....of the e- mails and letters on the vaccine received by the governor's office as of Tuesday, 89 percent opposed his order, while 11 percent favored it......Most of the e- mails and letters on the cervical cancer vaccine were from Texans, with about 1,500 coming from out of state...." - Kelly Shannon, Associated Press March 7, 2007, Vaccine Order Unleases Flood of Anger
" I am happy our Senate [Indiana] chose to scale down the legislation before they approved it and not make the vaccine mandatory for young girls across the state. Legislation that makes it mandatory, I believe, takes away a parent's right but also the child's choice to get the vaccine, especially when the side effects of the vaccine hasn't been studied for any lengthy period of time. Who knows what disastrous side effects the vaccine could have. I'm not sure if it is worth the risk....A vaccine against HPV to prevent cervical cancer isn't the only answer, and only time will tell whether it is even an answer at all. However, I do know there are many more damaging killers in the world that should be getting the attention that Merck and Gardasil have brought to cervical cancer." - Tonya Windell, Corydon Democrat Gardasil Vaccine Should Be Parent's Choice, March 7, 2007
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
There is a message that is being sent by parents to the Centers for Disease Control, drug companies, medical organizations and legislators in every state in response to proposed HPV vaccine mandates: we are not going to sit back and watch more vaccines be added to the long list of mandatory vaccinations for our children without having something to say about it. Parents, who have never questioned vaccine mandates before, joined with parents, who have been questioning vaccine mandates for a long time, and have drawn a line in the sand on forced vaccination with a vaccine that has not been proven safe in little girls for an infection that cannot be transmitted in the school setting.
For 25 years, the National Vaccine Information has been a strong advocate for the right to informed consent to vaccination as part of a broader national campaign to prevent vaccine injuries and deaths through public education. We have long questioned why, every time the pharmaceutical industry produces a new vaccine, it is automatically recommended for universal use by the CDC and AAP and automatically added by states to the mandatory list of vaccines required for children to get an education.
It has never been a secret to those of us working with parents, who have difficulty obtaining medical, religious and conscientious belief exemptions to vaccination, that drug companies, public health officials and medical organizations lobby hard to get new vaccines mandated. Thanks to Merck's heavy handed lobbying efforts using a Merck-funded "non- profit" organization to carry out its blitzkrieg introduction of HPV vaccine mandates in several dozen states, the whole nation now understands that new vaccine mandates are powered by the CDC's "universal use" recommendations and drug company-financed lobbying campaigns.
After a quarter century of remaining underground, the debate about state-forced vaccination is now taking place publicly. Much to the surprise of many doctors and lawmakers, a majority of parents across the country are standing up and saying "Show us the science and give us a choice." Mothers and fathers of vaccine injured children, who learned the hard way just how important it is to make well informed vaccine choices, are not surprised at all.
Will VA Governor Mandate HPV Vaccine?
"Gov. Timothy M. Kaine expressed concern Tuesday about legislation that would require young girls to be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus. “The challenge is, Should we mandate it? We mandate a lot of vaccines for school children,” [Kaine] said. “We don’t want them to infect each other with infectious diseases. This kind of goes an additional step, because it’s not something that we’re mandating to stop infection among school kids.....So the thing I’m going to look at on this bill is the ability for parents and youngsters to opt out of the mandate. Is it a generous, kind of wide-ranging opt-out?” he asked.... Barbara Loe Fisher , president and co-founder of the National Vaccine Information Center, advocates giving parents the right to opt in rather than opt out of mandates. “I don’t think a lot of people understand that they do actually have the opt-out option,” Fisher said. Families, she added, “should be able to make an informed and voluntary decision......“I really hope that the governor of Virginia carefully examines what this is going to cost Virginia to mandate this vaccine for every 11-year-old girl,” Fisher said. “It could be a very costly mistake.” - Amy Coutee, Virginian-Pilot, Feb. 28, 2007
"Del. Phillip A. Hamilton (R-Newport News), sponsor of the legislation, said he is not sure how the governor could make the opt-out provision any stronger. "Right now, parents are given information, and if they choose not to do it, they don't have to do it. They just have to sign a form so the health department knows they opted out," Hamilton said. "I just don't know how much broader you can make it." Merck and Co., a New Jersey- based pharmaceutical maker, received federal approval in June to sell the vaccine, which is called Gardasil. Merck then began a nationwide lobbying campaign to try to get states to mandate the vaccine. At least 20 states are considering doing so. But Merck suspended the campaign two weeks ago amid questions about whether profit, rather than public health, is guiding the debate. Concerns have also been raised about potential side effects." - Tim Craig, Washington Post, Feb. 28, 2007
"Virginia's governor says he will sign legislation requiring pre-teen female students to be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that can cause cervical cancer. Virginia would become the second state to mandate the vaccine for the human papillomavirus, or HPV, and the first to do it through legislative action. The governor of Texas sidestepped the Legislature and ordered the shots for girls there, but lawmakers are considering overriding that order." - Associated Press, March 1, 2007
"Governor Timothy M. Kaine today announced that Merck & Co., Inc. will invest $57 million to expand the role its Elkton facility plays in producing GARDASIL®, Merck’s cervical cancer vaccine.....This announcement not only increases Merck’s investment in Virginia, it provides a vital vaccine for women’s health,” said Governor Kaine. “Implementing this new process at the Elkton plant shows the confidence Merck has in Virginia’s positive business climate and dedicated workforce....The company’s Elkton facility employs more than 700 people with $60 million in annual payroll....Governor Kaine approved a $700,000 performance-based grant from the Virginia Investment Partnership (VIP) program, an incentive available to existing Virginia companies." - December 14, 2006 Press Release, Office of Virginia Governor Tim Kaine
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Three days ago (Feb. 28) Governor Tim Kaine (D) justifiably expressed concern about signing a bill that mandates every 11 year old girl living in Virginia get HPV vaccine before attending sixth grade. He said he was worried about the fact that HPV infection was not transmitted in the school setting and that "we mandate a lot of vaccines for school children"and that "the opt- out provision to protect kids and parents should be generous" so parents "don't have to jump through hoops" to opt-out of the mandate. Today (Mar. 2), Associated Press is reporting that Governor Kaine will sign the bill without amending it, making Virginia the first state to mandate HPV vaccine after going through the state legislature rather than by executive order a la Texas Governor Rick Perry. Hopefully, this is just an unconfirmed rumor and that Gov. Kaine will not compel Virginia taxpayers to spend millions of dollars to purchase Merck's HPV vaccine, GARDASIL, in an attempt to prevent less than one quarter of one percent of women, who may become chronically infected with HPV and fail to be diagnosed with pap screens, from getting cervical cancer.
Earlier this week the CDC published new HPV infection prevalence data which revealed that one quarter of all American girls and women aged 14 to 59 years are infected with HPV of any type. However, only 2 percent of them are infected with HPV types 16 and 18, which are the only high risk HPV types associated with cervical cancer included in Merck's GARDASIL. (Most sexually active individuals become asymptomatically infected with HPV at some point in their lives but 90 percent clear the infection from their bodies. Among high risk factors for chronic HPV infection are co-infection with herpes, chlamydia and HIV; smoking; long term oral contraceptive use; multiple births and poverty.)
It is well known that Merck campaign contributions coincided with a Feb. 2, 2007 Executive Order by the Governor of Texas that mandated the vaccine for all little girls in Texas. Less well known is the fact that on Dec. 14, 2006, Merck announced a $57 million dollar expansion of its plant in Elkton, Virginia (with an annual payroll of $60 million) to produce GARDASIL. Gov. Kaine approved a $700,000 performance-based grant from the Virginia Investment Partnership (VIP) program for Merck to improve the Elkton plant to make it ready to produce GARDASIL ( Click here to view the Dec 14, 2006 Press Release)
Although Gov. Kaine and many of the Virginia legislators sponsoring the HPV vaccine mandate for all little girls in Virginia may have consulted their consciences in making this decision for Virginia families, unfortunately Virginia politicians appear to have something in common with the Governor of Texas: financial incentive from Merck to vote for an HPV vaccine mandate. When citizens look at new vaccine mandates like this one, they see the heavy hand of the pharmaceutical industry influencing public health policy in America.
Parents are growing weary of watching lawmakers add every new vaccine that industry produces for children to state vaccine laws. Why are our schools becoming centers for forced vaccination rather than centers for education? Why should parents and their children be placed on a government monitored List of names identifying those who "opt- out" of getting HPV vaccine? What will it mean in the future to have your name and your child's name on that List? Whose business is it if parents choose not to give their 11 year old daughters a vaccine for a sexually transmitted disease that cannot be transmitted in the school classroom?
There is too little known about the safety and potential long term effectiveness of HPV vaccine to mandate it for anyone. Lawmakers who vote to mandate this vaccine will have made a mistake, which may cost them and the citizens of their states dearly.
"Del. Phillip A. Hamilton (R-Newport News), sponsor of the legislation, said he is not sure how the governor could make the opt-out provision any stronger. "Right now, parents are given information, and if they choose not to do it, they don't have to do it. They just have to sign a form so the health department knows they opted out," Hamilton said. "I just don't know how much broader you can make it." Merck and Co., a New Jersey- based pharmaceutical maker, received federal approval in June to sell the vaccine, which is called Gardasil. Merck then began a nationwide lobbying campaign to try to get states to mandate the vaccine. At least 20 states are considering doing so. But Merck suspended the campaign two weeks ago amid questions about whether profit, rather than public health, is guiding the debate. Concerns have also been raised about potential side effects." - Tim Craig, Washington Post, Feb. 28, 2007
"Virginia's governor says he will sign legislation requiring pre-teen female students to be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that can cause cervical cancer. Virginia would become the second state to mandate the vaccine for the human papillomavirus, or HPV, and the first to do it through legislative action. The governor of Texas sidestepped the Legislature and ordered the shots for girls there, but lawmakers are considering overriding that order." - Associated Press, March 1, 2007
"Governor Timothy M. Kaine today announced that Merck & Co., Inc. will invest $57 million to expand the role its Elkton facility plays in producing GARDASIL®, Merck’s cervical cancer vaccine.....This announcement not only increases Merck’s investment in Virginia, it provides a vital vaccine for women’s health,” said Governor Kaine. “Implementing this new process at the Elkton plant shows the confidence Merck has in Virginia’s positive business climate and dedicated workforce....The company’s Elkton facility employs more than 700 people with $60 million in annual payroll....Governor Kaine approved a $700,000 performance-based grant from the Virginia Investment Partnership (VIP) program, an incentive available to existing Virginia companies." - December 14, 2006 Press Release, Office of Virginia Governor Tim Kaine
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Three days ago (Feb. 28) Governor Tim Kaine (D) justifiably expressed concern about signing a bill that mandates every 11 year old girl living in Virginia get HPV vaccine before attending sixth grade. He said he was worried about the fact that HPV infection was not transmitted in the school setting and that "we mandate a lot of vaccines for school children"and that "the opt- out provision to protect kids and parents should be generous" so parents "don't have to jump through hoops" to opt-out of the mandate. Today (Mar. 2), Associated Press is reporting that Governor Kaine will sign the bill without amending it, making Virginia the first state to mandate HPV vaccine after going through the state legislature rather than by executive order a la Texas Governor Rick Perry. Hopefully, this is just an unconfirmed rumor and that Gov. Kaine will not compel Virginia taxpayers to spend millions of dollars to purchase Merck's HPV vaccine, GARDASIL, in an attempt to prevent less than one quarter of one percent of women, who may become chronically infected with HPV and fail to be diagnosed with pap screens, from getting cervical cancer.
Earlier this week the CDC published new HPV infection prevalence data which revealed that one quarter of all American girls and women aged 14 to 59 years are infected with HPV of any type. However, only 2 percent of them are infected with HPV types 16 and 18, which are the only high risk HPV types associated with cervical cancer included in Merck's GARDASIL. (Most sexually active individuals become asymptomatically infected with HPV at some point in their lives but 90 percent clear the infection from their bodies. Among high risk factors for chronic HPV infection are co-infection with herpes, chlamydia and HIV; smoking; long term oral contraceptive use; multiple births and poverty.)
It is well known that Merck campaign contributions coincided with a Feb. 2, 2007 Executive Order by the Governor of Texas that mandated the vaccine for all little girls in Texas. Less well known is the fact that on Dec. 14, 2006, Merck announced a $57 million dollar expansion of its plant in Elkton, Virginia (with an annual payroll of $60 million) to produce GARDASIL. Gov. Kaine approved a $700,000 performance-based grant from the Virginia Investment Partnership (VIP) program for Merck to improve the Elkton plant to make it ready to produce GARDASIL ( Click here to view the Dec 14, 2006 Press Release)
Although Gov. Kaine and many of the Virginia legislators sponsoring the HPV vaccine mandate for all little girls in Virginia may have consulted their consciences in making this decision for Virginia families, unfortunately Virginia politicians appear to have something in common with the Governor of Texas: financial incentive from Merck to vote for an HPV vaccine mandate. When citizens look at new vaccine mandates like this one, they see the heavy hand of the pharmaceutical industry influencing public health policy in America.
Parents are growing weary of watching lawmakers add every new vaccine that industry produces for children to state vaccine laws. Why are our schools becoming centers for forced vaccination rather than centers for education? Why should parents and their children be placed on a government monitored List of names identifying those who "opt- out" of getting HPV vaccine? What will it mean in the future to have your name and your child's name on that List? Whose business is it if parents choose not to give their 11 year old daughters a vaccine for a sexually transmitted disease that cannot be transmitted in the school classroom?
There is too little known about the safety and potential long term effectiveness of HPV vaccine to mandate it for anyone. Lawmakers who vote to mandate this vaccine will have made a mistake, which may cost them and the citizens of their states dearly.
ACIP Chair Says, "No HPV Mandate"
"We have endorsed a mandate because the vaccine — Merck’s Gardasil — looks highly effective against strains that cause 70 percent of all cervical cancer....The strongest arguments against moving ahead quickly tend to be practical and financial. States have typically used school mandates for vaccines that are already in wide use, and it is possible that unexpected side effects could emerge (though any mandate could be suspended if that happened). Health professionals also need to be certain that there are stable supplies, adequate insurance coverage, ample public money to vaccinate low-income children and physician support." - Editorial, The New York Times (Feb. 26)
"The chairman of the federal panel that recommended the new cervical-cancer vaccine for pre- teen girls says lawmakers should not make the inoculation mandatory, as the District and more than 20 states, including Virginia, are considering. Jon Abramson, chairman of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's advisory committee on immunization practices (ACIP), also said he and panel members told Merck & Co., the drug Gardasil's maker, not to lobby state lawmakers to require the vaccine for school attendance. "I told Merck my personal opinion that it shouldn't be mandated," Dr. Abramson told The Washington Times. "And they heard it from other committee members."...... ACIP is the only entity in the federal government to issue immunization recommendations and does not recommend a vaccine be made mandatory; those decisions are left to the states. But the committee's recommendation on the use of a vaccine often plays the lead role in whether states will act to make it part of their mandatory vaccine list, said Barbara Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center, which is opposed to laws making Gardasil mandatory. "They are the signal for states to act," she said. "The committee knows that and I think they see people getting upset about it." - Gregory Lopes, The Washington Times (Feb. 27)
"Based on this analysis, Dunne et al found the overall prevalence of HPV (any type) infection was 26.8% in females 14 through 59 years of age....the combined prevalence of [vaccine types] HPV-6, HPV- 11, HPV-16 and HPV-18 was 3.4%....the combined prevalence of the 2 high-risk types, HPV-16 and HPV- 18 [most associated with cervical cancer] was approximately 2%....Follow-up prevalence studies will be important not only to evaluate [quadrivalent HPV] vaccine effectiveness but also to address the question of whether other high-risk oncogenic HPV types will fill the ecological niche created by the expected decline in HPV-16 and HPV-18. Studies of cost-effectiveness of the vaccine have used HPV prevalence estimates from selected populations, including some outside of the United States. Now it will be important to assess the cost-effectiveness of the vaccine using these new prevalence data from US females." - Editorial, JAMA (Feb. 28)
"Even among women most likely to be infected - sexually active 18- to 25-year-olds - these two cancer-causing HPV strains were relatively uncommon, infecting 3.5 percent. Experts say these findings, published today, do not change the conclusion that the public-health benefits of vaccination are worth the cost. But the new data may create confusion and fuel controversy over whether to mandate inoculation of pubescent girls. At least 20 states are considering proposals. The study supports the notion that there should not be a "rush to make this vaccine mandatory," said Kenneth Chaiken, a Dallas lawyer representing six parents who are suing the Texas governor over his order requiring vaccination of sixth-grade girls. Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center, a nonprofit advocacy group that contends all vaccines pose risks the public is not warned about, said she was "shocked" by the new data. "This is not what most people in America who have looked at publicity for this vaccine were led to believe," she said." - Marie McCullough, Philadelphia Inquirer (Feb 28)
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
A study was published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) estimating the population prevalence of HPV infection in American women aged 14 to 59 years old. What the CDC study authors found was an overall prevalence of HPV (any type) infection in 26.8 % of the American females studied, with 3.4% infected with one of the four HPV types in Merck's quadrivalent vaccine and 2% infected with one of the two vaccine types (HPV 16 and 18) associated with cervical cancer. The study noted that 90 percent of all HPV infections are cleared from the body and do not become chronic. This means that less than one quarter of one percent of all American women are at risk for chronic infection with one of the two HPV types associated with cervical cancer which are contained in Merck's GARDASIL vaccine.
These new HPV prevalence data seriously call into question the cost benefit ratio for GARDASIL, particularly when taking into account short and long term serious vaccine reactions being reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), such as five cases of Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS) and cases of syncope with seizures, facial paralysis and other signs of brain and immune system dysfunction. The Editorial in JAMA also questioned whether the two HPV types in the vaccine would be replaced by the other HPV types associated with cervical cancer, limiting the vaccine's effectiveness. On May 18, 2006, the FDA staff questioned this possibility, as did NVIC in its Feb. 24, 2007 press release ( go to www.nvic.org).
The Washington Times reports that ACIP chairman Jon Abramson and other committee members did not want GARDASIL mandated. If this is true, then ACIP should have stated that fact clearly when they made their recommendation in the summer of 2006 that all 11 year old girls get the vaccine. In light of newly published HPV prevalence data and the fact that Merck only studied GARDASIL in a few hundred eleven year old girls for a few years, together with reports of serious adverse events such as GBS coming into VAERS, the CDC's ACIP members should be more worried about unanimously recommending GARDASIL for routine use with inadequate supporting evidence.
Finally, The New York Times came out with another editorial endorsing the HPV vaccine mandates, despite the growing list of outstanding scientific questions about the vaccine's necessity, safety and effectiveness. The New York Times is behind the times with its knee jerk endorsement of school mandates for this vaccine. Whoever wrote the editorial is particularly cruel to endorse mandates while acknowledging that "it is possible that unexpected side effects could emerge, though any mandate could be suspended if that happened." Is the New York Times editorial staff going to take responsibility for the children who are required to take GARDASIL and suffer serious side effects already reported to VAERS, or the children who will be injured if it is eventually revealed that GARDASIL has more "unexpected side effects?" American children should not be viewed as guinea pigs by drug companies, health officials, doctors, politicians or newspaper editors.
To hear a 30 minute interview explaining the scientific and policy issues relating to proposed HPV vaccine mandates, listen to a tape of the Feb. 22 Brian Lehrer show on WNYC radio entitled "Strange Bedfellows". Describing the show, WNYC says "At least 20 states are considering mandatory vaccination of young girls against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer. But the backlash has been fast and furious--and has led to some unlikely alliances. Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center, and Moira Gaul, director of women's and reproductive health at the Family Research Council, talk about their opposition to mandatory vaccination. Sheila Krumholz, executive director, Center for Responsive Politics, talks about the lobbying efforts and legislative influence of the pharmaceutical industry."
"The chairman of the federal panel that recommended the new cervical-cancer vaccine for pre- teen girls says lawmakers should not make the inoculation mandatory, as the District and more than 20 states, including Virginia, are considering. Jon Abramson, chairman of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's advisory committee on immunization practices (ACIP), also said he and panel members told Merck & Co., the drug Gardasil's maker, not to lobby state lawmakers to require the vaccine for school attendance. "I told Merck my personal opinion that it shouldn't be mandated," Dr. Abramson told The Washington Times. "And they heard it from other committee members."...... ACIP is the only entity in the federal government to issue immunization recommendations and does not recommend a vaccine be made mandatory; those decisions are left to the states. But the committee's recommendation on the use of a vaccine often plays the lead role in whether states will act to make it part of their mandatory vaccine list, said Barbara Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center, which is opposed to laws making Gardasil mandatory. "They are the signal for states to act," she said. "The committee knows that and I think they see people getting upset about it." - Gregory Lopes, The Washington Times (Feb. 27)
"Based on this analysis, Dunne et al found the overall prevalence of HPV (any type) infection was 26.8% in females 14 through 59 years of age....the combined prevalence of [vaccine types] HPV-6, HPV- 11, HPV-16 and HPV-18 was 3.4%....the combined prevalence of the 2 high-risk types, HPV-16 and HPV- 18 [most associated with cervical cancer] was approximately 2%....Follow-up prevalence studies will be important not only to evaluate [quadrivalent HPV] vaccine effectiveness but also to address the question of whether other high-risk oncogenic HPV types will fill the ecological niche created by the expected decline in HPV-16 and HPV-18. Studies of cost-effectiveness of the vaccine have used HPV prevalence estimates from selected populations, including some outside of the United States. Now it will be important to assess the cost-effectiveness of the vaccine using these new prevalence data from US females." - Editorial, JAMA (Feb. 28)
"Even among women most likely to be infected - sexually active 18- to 25-year-olds - these two cancer-causing HPV strains were relatively uncommon, infecting 3.5 percent. Experts say these findings, published today, do not change the conclusion that the public-health benefits of vaccination are worth the cost. But the new data may create confusion and fuel controversy over whether to mandate inoculation of pubescent girls. At least 20 states are considering proposals. The study supports the notion that there should not be a "rush to make this vaccine mandatory," said Kenneth Chaiken, a Dallas lawyer representing six parents who are suing the Texas governor over his order requiring vaccination of sixth-grade girls. Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center, a nonprofit advocacy group that contends all vaccines pose risks the public is not warned about, said she was "shocked" by the new data. "This is not what most people in America who have looked at publicity for this vaccine were led to believe," she said." - Marie McCullough, Philadelphia Inquirer (Feb 28)
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
A study was published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) estimating the population prevalence of HPV infection in American women aged 14 to 59 years old. What the CDC study authors found was an overall prevalence of HPV (any type) infection in 26.8 % of the American females studied, with 3.4% infected with one of the four HPV types in Merck's quadrivalent vaccine and 2% infected with one of the two vaccine types (HPV 16 and 18) associated with cervical cancer. The study noted that 90 percent of all HPV infections are cleared from the body and do not become chronic. This means that less than one quarter of one percent of all American women are at risk for chronic infection with one of the two HPV types associated with cervical cancer which are contained in Merck's GARDASIL vaccine.
These new HPV prevalence data seriously call into question the cost benefit ratio for GARDASIL, particularly when taking into account short and long term serious vaccine reactions being reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), such as five cases of Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS) and cases of syncope with seizures, facial paralysis and other signs of brain and immune system dysfunction. The Editorial in JAMA also questioned whether the two HPV types in the vaccine would be replaced by the other HPV types associated with cervical cancer, limiting the vaccine's effectiveness. On May 18, 2006, the FDA staff questioned this possibility, as did NVIC in its Feb. 24, 2007 press release ( go to www.nvic.org).
The Washington Times reports that ACIP chairman Jon Abramson and other committee members did not want GARDASIL mandated. If this is true, then ACIP should have stated that fact clearly when they made their recommendation in the summer of 2006 that all 11 year old girls get the vaccine. In light of newly published HPV prevalence data and the fact that Merck only studied GARDASIL in a few hundred eleven year old girls for a few years, together with reports of serious adverse events such as GBS coming into VAERS, the CDC's ACIP members should be more worried about unanimously recommending GARDASIL for routine use with inadequate supporting evidence.
Finally, The New York Times came out with another editorial endorsing the HPV vaccine mandates, despite the growing list of outstanding scientific questions about the vaccine's necessity, safety and effectiveness. The New York Times is behind the times with its knee jerk endorsement of school mandates for this vaccine. Whoever wrote the editorial is particularly cruel to endorse mandates while acknowledging that "it is possible that unexpected side effects could emerge, though any mandate could be suspended if that happened." Is the New York Times editorial staff going to take responsibility for the children who are required to take GARDASIL and suffer serious side effects already reported to VAERS, or the children who will be injured if it is eventually revealed that GARDASIL has more "unexpected side effects?" American children should not be viewed as guinea pigs by drug companies, health officials, doctors, politicians or newspaper editors.
To hear a 30 minute interview explaining the scientific and policy issues relating to proposed HPV vaccine mandates, listen to a tape of the Feb. 22 Brian Lehrer show on WNYC radio entitled "Strange Bedfellows". Describing the show, WNYC says "At least 20 states are considering mandatory vaccination of young girls against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer. But the backlash has been fast and furious--and has led to some unlikely alliances. Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center, and Moira Gaul, director of women's and reproductive health at the Family Research Council, talk about their opposition to mandatory vaccination. Sheila Krumholz, executive director, Center for Responsive Politics, talks about the lobbying efforts and legislative influence of the pharmaceutical industry."
NVIC Releases GARDASIL Report - Merck Stops Mandate Push
"Merck & Co. will stop lobbying state officials to require that girls receive the company's Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine before they can attend school. Merck made the decision after groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics said there wasn't enough state funding to pay for the $360 vaccine or public acceptance, said Rick Haupt, director of medical affairs for Merck's vaccine division, in a telephone interview today....The vaccine is Merck's most important new product, capable of generating as much as $3 billion in annual sales, analysts have said. Revenue from Gardasil in the fourth quarter reached $155 million.... Starting in 2008, Texas girls ages 11 and 12 will be required to have the vaccine before entering sixth grade. The shots will cost the state $50 million the first year....A group called the National Vaccine Information Center said yesterday that its analysis of reports to U.S. regulators found cases of serious side effects to Gardasil. One was Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the nervous system." - Shannon Pettypiece and Angela Zimm, Bloomberg News , February 20, 2007, Merck Stops Campaign to Mandate Gardasil Vaccine Use
"Merck & Co., bowing to pressure from parents and medical groups, is immediately suspending its lobbying campaign to persuade state legislatures to mandate that adolescent girls get the company's new vaccine against cervical cancer as a requirement for school attendance....Legislatures in roughly 20 states have introduced measures that would mandate girls have the vaccine to attend school, but none has passed so far. However, Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Feb. 2 issued an executive order requiring that schoolgirls get the vaccinations, triggering protests from lawmakers in that state, who may seek to pass a law of overturning the order. A group of parents worried that vaccines harm some children, the National Vaccine Information Center, has been publicizing reports of side effects - mostly dizziness and fainting - in several dozen people getting Gardasil, which is approved for use in females ages 9 to 26. The group questions whether it was tested in enough young girls. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, say that reports of side effects through the end of January show don't raise any red flags." - Linda Johnson, Associated Press February 20, 2007, Merck Suspends Lobbying for Cervical Cancer Vaccine Mandate
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
About 12 hours after PROVE president Dawn Richardson and scores of parents and doctors testified in the Texas state legislature, protesting the HPV vaccine mandate being imposed on 11 year old girls in that state by the Governor of Texas, Merck announced it was ending its aggressive lobbying campaign to get GARDASIL mandated in every state. Dawn used advance information provided to her by NVIC from the Report on VAERS and GARDASIL that NVIC released today (below) in her testimony, arguing that the vaccine had not been tested adequately for safety in little girls and was already causing too many reactions. The Texas legislature is in the process of building a bi-partisan coalition to pass legislation that will overturn Governor Rick Perry's Executive order mandating the vaccine for all sixth grade girls.
The backlash in Texas is also being felt in other states, as parents are letting legislators know they are tired of having every vaccine, which industry produces and the CDC recommends for universal use in all children, automatically mandated by the states for school entry. From now on, perhaps citizens and their elected officials will work together to more carefully evaluate the necessity for and safety and efficacy of new vaccines which those, who are operating and profiting from the mass vaccination system, lobby to have mandated.
With 56 doses of 16 vaccines recommended by the CDC for use by all children by age 12 and more than 3 dozen of those already mandated in most states, a careful examination of each new vaccine that industry markets is long overdue. The fact that many highly vaccinated children are suffering with chronic disease and disability, with 1 in 150 autistic, 1 in 6 learning delayed and millions more asthmatic and diabetic, makes it even more important for the FDA and CDC to redouble their efforts to hold vaccine manufacturers to high standards for proof of safety for vaccines before they are licensed and recommended for universal use by all children.
After 25 years, the vaccine safety and informed consent movement led by parents of vaccine injured children has become a national voice for those who want truth, transparency and freedom of choice when it comes to making vaccination decisions for themselves and their children. Today, many more Americans are joining with NVIC and declaring: No forced vaccination. Not in America.
VACCINE SAFETY GROUP RELEASES GARDASIL REACTION REPORT
Calls on FDA and CDC to Warn Doctors and Parents to Report to VAERS
(Feb. 21) Washington, D.C. – The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) today released a new analysis of the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reports of serious health problems following HPV vaccination (Merck’s GARDASIL) during the last six months of 2006. Out of the 385 individual GARDASIL adverse event reports made to VAERS, two-thirds required additional medical care and about one-third of all reports were for children 16-years-old and under, with nearly 25 percent of those children having received simultaneously one or more of the 18 vaccines that Merck did not study in combination with GARDASIL. NVIC is calling on the FDA and CDC to warn parents and doctors that GARDASIL should not be combined with other vaccines and that young girls should be monitored for at least 24 hours for syncopal (collapse/fainting) episodes that can be accompanied by seizure activity, as well as symptoms of tingling, numbness and loss of sensation in the fingers and limbs, all of which should be reported to VAERS immediately.
“Because Merck only studied GARDASIL in fewer than 1200 girls under age 16 in pre-licensure trials, it is critical that doctors and parents be made aware of the nature of the initial adverse event reports coming into VAERS and that they report serious health problems after vaccination when they occur,” said NVIC President Barbara Loe Fisher. “There are twice as many children collapsing and four times as many children experiencing tingling, numbness and loss of sensation after getting a GARDASIL vaccination compared to those getting a Tdap (tetanus-diphtheria- acellular pertussis) vaccination. There have been reports of facial paralysis and Guillain-Barre Syndrome. And doctors who give GARDASIL in combination with other vaccines are basically conducting an experiment on their young patients because Merck has not published any safety data for simultaneous vaccination with any vaccine except hepatitis B vaccine.”
According to NVIC’s report, a majority of GARDASIL adverse event reports to VAERS involved those who suffered fever, nausea, headache or pain; 14 percent were for syncopal episodes with or without neurological signs; and 8 percent experienced tingling, numbness and loss of sensation, facial paralysis or Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Although adverse event reports to VAERS do not prove causation, they can provide an early warning sign that a new vaccine may be causing health problems that could be important. For example, reports to VAERS of bowel blockage (intussusception) in babies following receipt of Merck’s Rota Teq (rotavirus) vaccine prompted the FDA to issue a public warning to doctors and consumers on Feb. 13.
“About 4 reports per day were filed with VAERS in December 2006 for the HPV vaccine,” said NVIC Health Policy Analyst Vicky Debold, RN, Ph.D. “Some of these girls are being injured when they collapse after getting the vaccine and others are complaining of neurological symptoms that should not be ignored. Doctors and nurses should take note of the patient safety issues related to giving this vaccine. Giving GARDASIL simultaneously with any of the 18 vaccines Merck did not study in combination is not an evidence- based guideline and should involve informed consent and a signed patient release. To avoid unnecessary injuries, teenage girls should be vaccinated laying down, not be left unattended and probably should not walk or drive themselves home from the doctor’s office after they get vaccinated.”
NVIC also found that there were several VAERS reports of HPV infection, genital warts and cervical lesions after GARDASIL vaccination. It is unknown if the girls were infected with HPV before being vaccinated or if GARDASIL failed to protect them. One case of HPV infection occurred in a 22-year-old girl who had participated in a Merck GARDASIL trial in 2003 when she had shown “strong conversion to all 4 vaccine types” but “tested positive for high risk HPV” in 2006, according to the VAERS report.
In a May 18, 2006 Background Document for the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRPBAC), the FDA staff stated that Merck clinical trial data indicated there may be “the potential for GARDASIL to enhance cervical disease in subjects who had evidence of persistent infection with vaccine-relevant HPV types prior to vaccination.” Girls and women now being vaccinated with GARDASIL are not routinely being tested for active HPV infection before vaccination.
The FDA staff also questioned whether the “HPV types not contained in the vaccine might offset the overall clinical effectiveness of the vaccine.” There are more than 15 types of HPV associated with cervical cancer but GARDASIL only contains HPV types 16 and 18. It is unknown whether non-vaccine HPV types will become more dominant in the future. However, there are indications this could occur because some of the seven strains of pneumococcal contained in Wyeth’s PREVNAR vaccine, which was recommended by the CDC for universal use in all babies in 2000, have been replaced by some of the more than 80 other pneumococcal strains not contained in the vaccine.
VAERS is a passive surveillance system and depends upon voluntary reporting of serious health problems following vaccination, even though safety provisions in the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 mandated that health care providers report vaccine adverse events. There have been estimates that fewer than 10 percent, even as low as 1 to 4 percent, of adverse events which occur after prescription drug or vaccine use are ever reported to government adverse event reporting systems.
“If only 1 to 4 percent of all adverse events associated with GARDASIL vaccination are being reported to VAERS, there could have been up to 38,000 health problems after GARDASIL vaccination in 2006 which were never reported,” said Fisher. “How many girls are really having short-term health problems associated with getting this vaccine that could turn into long-term neurological or immune system disorders? And how many will go on to develop fertility problems, cancer or damage to their genes, all of which Merck admits in its product insert that it has not studied at all? We just don’t know enough to be mandating GARDASIL for anyone, much less vulnerable 11 to 12 year old girls entering puberty.”
For a copy of NVIC’s Report on VAERS and GARDASIL, references for this statement and information about how to report a vaccine reaction to VAERS, go to www.nvic.org.
"Merck & Co., bowing to pressure from parents and medical groups, is immediately suspending its lobbying campaign to persuade state legislatures to mandate that adolescent girls get the company's new vaccine against cervical cancer as a requirement for school attendance....Legislatures in roughly 20 states have introduced measures that would mandate girls have the vaccine to attend school, but none has passed so far. However, Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Feb. 2 issued an executive order requiring that schoolgirls get the vaccinations, triggering protests from lawmakers in that state, who may seek to pass a law of overturning the order. A group of parents worried that vaccines harm some children, the National Vaccine Information Center, has been publicizing reports of side effects - mostly dizziness and fainting - in several dozen people getting Gardasil, which is approved for use in females ages 9 to 26. The group questions whether it was tested in enough young girls. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, say that reports of side effects through the end of January show don't raise any red flags." - Linda Johnson, Associated Press February 20, 2007, Merck Suspends Lobbying for Cervical Cancer Vaccine Mandate
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
About 12 hours after PROVE president Dawn Richardson and scores of parents and doctors testified in the Texas state legislature, protesting the HPV vaccine mandate being imposed on 11 year old girls in that state by the Governor of Texas, Merck announced it was ending its aggressive lobbying campaign to get GARDASIL mandated in every state. Dawn used advance information provided to her by NVIC from the Report on VAERS and GARDASIL that NVIC released today (below) in her testimony, arguing that the vaccine had not been tested adequately for safety in little girls and was already causing too many reactions. The Texas legislature is in the process of building a bi-partisan coalition to pass legislation that will overturn Governor Rick Perry's Executive order mandating the vaccine for all sixth grade girls.
The backlash in Texas is also being felt in other states, as parents are letting legislators know they are tired of having every vaccine, which industry produces and the CDC recommends for universal use in all children, automatically mandated by the states for school entry. From now on, perhaps citizens and their elected officials will work together to more carefully evaluate the necessity for and safety and efficacy of new vaccines which those, who are operating and profiting from the mass vaccination system, lobby to have mandated.
With 56 doses of 16 vaccines recommended by the CDC for use by all children by age 12 and more than 3 dozen of those already mandated in most states, a careful examination of each new vaccine that industry markets is long overdue. The fact that many highly vaccinated children are suffering with chronic disease and disability, with 1 in 150 autistic, 1 in 6 learning delayed and millions more asthmatic and diabetic, makes it even more important for the FDA and CDC to redouble their efforts to hold vaccine manufacturers to high standards for proof of safety for vaccines before they are licensed and recommended for universal use by all children.
After 25 years, the vaccine safety and informed consent movement led by parents of vaccine injured children has become a national voice for those who want truth, transparency and freedom of choice when it comes to making vaccination decisions for themselves and their children. Today, many more Americans are joining with NVIC and declaring: No forced vaccination. Not in America.
VACCINE SAFETY GROUP RELEASES GARDASIL REACTION REPORT
Calls on FDA and CDC to Warn Doctors and Parents to Report to VAERS
(Feb. 21) Washington, D.C. – The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) today released a new analysis of the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reports of serious health problems following HPV vaccination (Merck’s GARDASIL) during the last six months of 2006. Out of the 385 individual GARDASIL adverse event reports made to VAERS, two-thirds required additional medical care and about one-third of all reports were for children 16-years-old and under, with nearly 25 percent of those children having received simultaneously one or more of the 18 vaccines that Merck did not study in combination with GARDASIL. NVIC is calling on the FDA and CDC to warn parents and doctors that GARDASIL should not be combined with other vaccines and that young girls should be monitored for at least 24 hours for syncopal (collapse/fainting) episodes that can be accompanied by seizure activity, as well as symptoms of tingling, numbness and loss of sensation in the fingers and limbs, all of which should be reported to VAERS immediately.
“Because Merck only studied GARDASIL in fewer than 1200 girls under age 16 in pre-licensure trials, it is critical that doctors and parents be made aware of the nature of the initial adverse event reports coming into VAERS and that they report serious health problems after vaccination when they occur,” said NVIC President Barbara Loe Fisher. “There are twice as many children collapsing and four times as many children experiencing tingling, numbness and loss of sensation after getting a GARDASIL vaccination compared to those getting a Tdap (tetanus-diphtheria- acellular pertussis) vaccination. There have been reports of facial paralysis and Guillain-Barre Syndrome. And doctors who give GARDASIL in combination with other vaccines are basically conducting an experiment on their young patients because Merck has not published any safety data for simultaneous vaccination with any vaccine except hepatitis B vaccine.”
According to NVIC’s report, a majority of GARDASIL adverse event reports to VAERS involved those who suffered fever, nausea, headache or pain; 14 percent were for syncopal episodes with or without neurological signs; and 8 percent experienced tingling, numbness and loss of sensation, facial paralysis or Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Although adverse event reports to VAERS do not prove causation, they can provide an early warning sign that a new vaccine may be causing health problems that could be important. For example, reports to VAERS of bowel blockage (intussusception) in babies following receipt of Merck’s Rota Teq (rotavirus) vaccine prompted the FDA to issue a public warning to doctors and consumers on Feb. 13.
“About 4 reports per day were filed with VAERS in December 2006 for the HPV vaccine,” said NVIC Health Policy Analyst Vicky Debold, RN, Ph.D. “Some of these girls are being injured when they collapse after getting the vaccine and others are complaining of neurological symptoms that should not be ignored. Doctors and nurses should take note of the patient safety issues related to giving this vaccine. Giving GARDASIL simultaneously with any of the 18 vaccines Merck did not study in combination is not an evidence- based guideline and should involve informed consent and a signed patient release. To avoid unnecessary injuries, teenage girls should be vaccinated laying down, not be left unattended and probably should not walk or drive themselves home from the doctor’s office after they get vaccinated.”
NVIC also found that there were several VAERS reports of HPV infection, genital warts and cervical lesions after GARDASIL vaccination. It is unknown if the girls were infected with HPV before being vaccinated or if GARDASIL failed to protect them. One case of HPV infection occurred in a 22-year-old girl who had participated in a Merck GARDASIL trial in 2003 when she had shown “strong conversion to all 4 vaccine types” but “tested positive for high risk HPV” in 2006, according to the VAERS report.
In a May 18, 2006 Background Document for the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRPBAC), the FDA staff stated that Merck clinical trial data indicated there may be “the potential for GARDASIL to enhance cervical disease in subjects who had evidence of persistent infection with vaccine-relevant HPV types prior to vaccination.” Girls and women now being vaccinated with GARDASIL are not routinely being tested for active HPV infection before vaccination.
The FDA staff also questioned whether the “HPV types not contained in the vaccine might offset the overall clinical effectiveness of the vaccine.” There are more than 15 types of HPV associated with cervical cancer but GARDASIL only contains HPV types 16 and 18. It is unknown whether non-vaccine HPV types will become more dominant in the future. However, there are indications this could occur because some of the seven strains of pneumococcal contained in Wyeth’s PREVNAR vaccine, which was recommended by the CDC for universal use in all babies in 2000, have been replaced by some of the more than 80 other pneumococcal strains not contained in the vaccine.
VAERS is a passive surveillance system and depends upon voluntary reporting of serious health problems following vaccination, even though safety provisions in the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 mandated that health care providers report vaccine adverse events. There have been estimates that fewer than 10 percent, even as low as 1 to 4 percent, of adverse events which occur after prescription drug or vaccine use are ever reported to government adverse event reporting systems.
“If only 1 to 4 percent of all adverse events associated with GARDASIL vaccination are being reported to VAERS, there could have been up to 38,000 health problems after GARDASIL vaccination in 2006 which were never reported,” said Fisher. “How many girls are really having short-term health problems associated with getting this vaccine that could turn into long-term neurological or immune system disorders? And how many will go on to develop fertility problems, cancer or damage to their genes, all of which Merck admits in its product insert that it has not studied at all? We just don’t know enough to be mandating GARDASIL for anyone, much less vulnerable 11 to 12 year old girls entering puberty.”
For a copy of NVIC’s Report on VAERS and GARDASIL, references for this statement and information about how to report a vaccine reaction to VAERS, go to www.nvic.org.
HPV Vaccine Hotly Debated on Today Show
"There is no medical emergency in the state of Texas over cervical cancer. The emergency is in the board room of Merck because they've seen this [HPV vaccine mandate] measure fail in three states and they want to make sure this thing doesn't go down the tubes.......The product was only tested in 1200 little girls under the age of 16. That is not nearly enough information to base a policy that is going to affect hundreds of thousands of girls in the United States, perhaps possibly even millions...This is a very, very expensive vaccine. The amount of money it is going to take to vaccinate every single little girls at the age of 11 and do that every year - we don't know because the vaccine hasn't been followed up long enough to know that this is actually going to have an impact when these little girls are old enough to develop cervical cancer...." - Dawn Richardson, The Today Show, Feb. 5, 2007
"Legislation mandating the HPV vaccine for pre-adolescent schoolgirls is pending in the District, Maryland and Virginia. Those who advocate it are quick to note that parents can opt out of the program. But few can say exactly how many bureaucratic hoops a parent will have to jump through to do that. Besides, why should the onus be on the parents to figure out how not to be in a government-mandated program? In New Hampshire, parents opt in -- and the burden is on the government to show how the vaccine can benefit their children....So are New Hampshire residents somehow smarter and better able to develop effective public health programs? Are they more concerned about their children than the rest of us? Hardly. What they have that we do not is the right attitude. They take their state motto seriously: "Live Free or Die," while too many of us are content to live and die as slaves." - Courtland Milloy, Washington Post , January 24, 2007, Force Is Not the Only Way to Administer a Vaccine
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
This morning (Feb. 5) on the NBC "Today Show," (see the video HPV Vaccine is mandatory in Texas) Dawn Richardson, the President of PROVE (Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education) in Texas debated Texas Rep. Jessica Farrar (D) who supports the Executive Order issued by the Republican Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, on Feb. 2 mandating that all sixth grade girls gets three doses of HPV vaccine in order to attend school. Dawn made the point that "the Governor has side stepped policy...there is no way for the people of this state to be able to add input and for the legislature to be able to debate and decide and this is just plain wrong."
Although Dawn was supposed to be only debating the legislator, she ended up also debating NBC doc Nancy Snyderman, who offered her opinion on the intelligence of state legislators when she qualified that she was speaking "as an American citizen" and proclaimed "I never feel better when legislators start arguing about the science. They haven't done a good job with stem cells and they haven't done a good job with basic science and I am not so sure they are going to do a better job with this...."
And therein lies the problem with medical doctors at Merck and medical doctors in state health departments and medical doctors at the CDC and many medical doctors in the U.S. occupying a position of authority (like on TV) : they just can't help telling other people what to do. And they get really, really mad if you don't do what they tell you to do - for your own good and everyone's else's good, of course. Their favorite tactic, when they really don't want you to understand the risks you are about to take with whatever they are telling you to do, is: "You don't understand. You couldn't possibly understand the complexities of this issue. I'll make the decision for you."
Well, Nancy, I've got news for you. The majority of us ordinary non-M.D. Americans believe in our right to fully participate in the creation of the laws which govern us by working through our elected officials, in this case, our state legislators. We don't believe in a medical aristocracy running the show. We actually believe our elected officials, like us, have a brain and can think through these tough issues like whether our pre-adolescent daughters ought to be injected with a vaccine that Merck only tested in a few thousand little girls or whether we should be paying higher health insurance premiums to spend $4 billion to prevent 3700 cervical cancer deaths in the U.S. that could be avoided if women just got pap smears and early treatment of pre-cancerous lesions. We don't think these issues have nearly as much to do about sex (that convenient red herring) as it does about this HPV vaccine's safety, necessity and cost.
The days when Moms (and legislators) bow down to medical doctors and drug companies and offer up their children to every new vaccine that comes down the pike are over. Faith without question rightly belongs in Cathedrals and Temples, but not in the halls of our state Capitols or Congress.
Parents all over America are standing up and shouting now: Show us the Science and Give us a Choice.
Just in time.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (Published)
The Washington Post
February 1, 2007
Thanks to columnist Courtland Milloy for his courageous defense of the informed consent ethic, which includes allowing parents to make informed, voluntary vaccination decisions for their children ["Force Is Not the Only Way to Administer a Vaccine," Metro section, Jan. 24]. Mr. Milloy makes the point that if the governed are to respect and have confidence in those who govern them, state officials must treat citizens with respect, rather than using coercion and intimidation to implement health policies.
In addition to the human papillomavirus vaccine, many vaccines are being developed for diseases that depart from the smallpox and polio model and are not transmissable in public settings. Vaccines have benefits as well as risks that are higher for some people because of genetic and other biological differences, as has been demonstrated by the more than $1 billion awarded to vaccine casualties under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986.
Mr. Milloy has reminded us that the people of New Hampshire embrace a liberal informed-consent policy for vaccines that emphasizes education rather than prosecution because they are serious about "Live Free or Die," their state motto, "while too many of us are content to live and die as slaves."
His warning also challenges us to think about an important moral question: Should citizens be injected against their will with biological agents that can injure and kill for what the state has defined as the common good?
How we answer that question may well determine how we define freedom in America in the 21st century.
Barbara Loe Fisher
President
National Vaccine Information Center Vienna
"Legislation mandating the HPV vaccine for pre-adolescent schoolgirls is pending in the District, Maryland and Virginia. Those who advocate it are quick to note that parents can opt out of the program. But few can say exactly how many bureaucratic hoops a parent will have to jump through to do that. Besides, why should the onus be on the parents to figure out how not to be in a government-mandated program? In New Hampshire, parents opt in -- and the burden is on the government to show how the vaccine can benefit their children....So are New Hampshire residents somehow smarter and better able to develop effective public health programs? Are they more concerned about their children than the rest of us? Hardly. What they have that we do not is the right attitude. They take their state motto seriously: "Live Free or Die," while too many of us are content to live and die as slaves." - Courtland Milloy, Washington Post , January 24, 2007, Force Is Not the Only Way to Administer a Vaccine
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
This morning (Feb. 5) on the NBC "Today Show," (see the video HPV Vaccine is mandatory in Texas) Dawn Richardson, the President of PROVE (Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education) in Texas debated Texas Rep. Jessica Farrar (D) who supports the Executive Order issued by the Republican Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, on Feb. 2 mandating that all sixth grade girls gets three doses of HPV vaccine in order to attend school. Dawn made the point that "the Governor has side stepped policy...there is no way for the people of this state to be able to add input and for the legislature to be able to debate and decide and this is just plain wrong."
Although Dawn was supposed to be only debating the legislator, she ended up also debating NBC doc Nancy Snyderman, who offered her opinion on the intelligence of state legislators when she qualified that she was speaking "as an American citizen" and proclaimed "I never feel better when legislators start arguing about the science. They haven't done a good job with stem cells and they haven't done a good job with basic science and I am not so sure they are going to do a better job with this...."
And therein lies the problem with medical doctors at Merck and medical doctors in state health departments and medical doctors at the CDC and many medical doctors in the U.S. occupying a position of authority (like on TV) : they just can't help telling other people what to do. And they get really, really mad if you don't do what they tell you to do - for your own good and everyone's else's good, of course. Their favorite tactic, when they really don't want you to understand the risks you are about to take with whatever they are telling you to do, is: "You don't understand. You couldn't possibly understand the complexities of this issue. I'll make the decision for you."
Well, Nancy, I've got news for you. The majority of us ordinary non-M.D. Americans believe in our right to fully participate in the creation of the laws which govern us by working through our elected officials, in this case, our state legislators. We don't believe in a medical aristocracy running the show. We actually believe our elected officials, like us, have a brain and can think through these tough issues like whether our pre-adolescent daughters ought to be injected with a vaccine that Merck only tested in a few thousand little girls or whether we should be paying higher health insurance premiums to spend $4 billion to prevent 3700 cervical cancer deaths in the U.S. that could be avoided if women just got pap smears and early treatment of pre-cancerous lesions. We don't think these issues have nearly as much to do about sex (that convenient red herring) as it does about this HPV vaccine's safety, necessity and cost.
The days when Moms (and legislators) bow down to medical doctors and drug companies and offer up their children to every new vaccine that comes down the pike are over. Faith without question rightly belongs in Cathedrals and Temples, but not in the halls of our state Capitols or Congress.
Parents all over America are standing up and shouting now: Show us the Science and Give us a Choice.
Just in time.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (Published)
The Washington Post
February 1, 2007
Thanks to columnist Courtland Milloy for his courageous defense of the informed consent ethic, which includes allowing parents to make informed, voluntary vaccination decisions for their children ["Force Is Not the Only Way to Administer a Vaccine," Metro section, Jan. 24]. Mr. Milloy makes the point that if the governed are to respect and have confidence in those who govern them, state officials must treat citizens with respect, rather than using coercion and intimidation to implement health policies.
In addition to the human papillomavirus vaccine, many vaccines are being developed for diseases that depart from the smallpox and polio model and are not transmissable in public settings. Vaccines have benefits as well as risks that are higher for some people because of genetic and other biological differences, as has been demonstrated by the more than $1 billion awarded to vaccine casualties under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986.
Mr. Milloy has reminded us that the people of New Hampshire embrace a liberal informed-consent policy for vaccines that emphasizes education rather than prosecution because they are serious about "Live Free or Die," their state motto, "while too many of us are content to live and die as slaves."
His warning also challenges us to think about an important moral question: Should citizens be injected against their will with biological agents that can injure and kill for what the state has defined as the common good?
How we answer that question may well determine how we define freedom in America in the 21st century.
Barbara Loe Fisher
President
National Vaccine Information Center Vienna
Speaking Out Against HPV Mandates
"Legislation mandating the HPV vaccine for pre-adolescent schoolgirls is pending in the District, Maryland and Virginia. Those who advocate it are quick to note that parents can opt out of the program. But few can say exactly how many bureaucratic hoops a parent will have to jump through to do that. Besides, why should the onus be on the parents to figure out how not to be in a government-mandated program? In New Hampshire, parents opt in -- and the burden is on the government to show how the vaccine can benefit their children....So are New Hampshire residents somehow smarter and better able to develop effective public health programs? Are they more concerned about their children than the rest of us? Hardly. What they have that we do not is the right attitude. They take their state motto seriously: "Live Free or Die," while too many of us are content to live and die as slaves." - Courtland Milloy, Washington Post , January 24, 2007, Force Is Not the Only Way to Administer a Vaccine
"Medical ethics require that patients have autonomy in their medical decisions, with informed consent. They have a right to know what they have, what the prognosis is, what the proposed treatment is, what the alternatives are, and what the possible side effects are prior to any treatment. Indeed, a patient has a right to say no, even if by refusing treatment they might die. I as a medical professional cannot overrule their decisions. Here we are talking about forcing a person to undergo mandatory drug therapy (vaccination), when they have no disease, under the presumption that they might get a disease based on future poor behavior. This is medically unethical.....Questions remain. As the [HPV] vaccine may not be effective in the long term, will booster shots at $120 be required? What type of world is it when a large company basically can forcibly take money from our pockets?" - Joseph Desoto, Ph.D., Charleston Daily Mail , January 23, 2007, Commentary: Dr. Joseph DeSoto: Shouldn't Force HPV Vaccinations
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Congratulations to two brave Americans, who have spoken up publicly for the informed consent ethic, which includes the right of parents to make informed, voluntary vaccination choices for their children. Each undoubtedly knew how much criticism and pressure might come as a consequence, but must have chosen to speak out, nevertheless, as a matter of conscience. They and all those who stand up for truth and freedom, despite the personal or professional risk, are following in the footsteps of those who came to America to escape persecution for their beliefs and fought to create a democracy that protects minorities from exploitation by the powerful.
As we are all witnessing, proposed HPV vaccine mandates are rolling through many state legislatures at warp speed. State and federal health officials (who are supposed to be legally prohibited from playing politics) and drug company lobbyists are in state Capitols pressuring politicians to make every little girl in America get injected with three doses of HPV vaccine before becoming sexually active or be denied the right to attend school. They are voting to mandate a vaccine for a disease which cannot be transmitted in school and which will cost the parents, the states and the nation billions to prevent a cancer, which can be almost 100 percent prevented through either abstinence, condom use or annual pap smears.
Citizens in every state, who want to be free to make vaccine choices in the future, should pick up the phone, get to a fax machine, send an email or get in the car and go visit their state representatives and senators and make their voices heard. There is only one mechanism in a democracy for getting vaccine laws passed, which support the right to voluntary, informed consent: vote for politicians who will vote for freedom or vote them out in the next election.
No forced vaccination. Not in America.
"Medical ethics require that patients have autonomy in their medical decisions, with informed consent. They have a right to know what they have, what the prognosis is, what the proposed treatment is, what the alternatives are, and what the possible side effects are prior to any treatment. Indeed, a patient has a right to say no, even if by refusing treatment they might die. I as a medical professional cannot overrule their decisions. Here we are talking about forcing a person to undergo mandatory drug therapy (vaccination), when they have no disease, under the presumption that they might get a disease based on future poor behavior. This is medically unethical.....Questions remain. As the [HPV] vaccine may not be effective in the long term, will booster shots at $120 be required? What type of world is it when a large company basically can forcibly take money from our pockets?" - Joseph Desoto, Ph.D., Charleston Daily Mail , January 23, 2007, Commentary: Dr. Joseph DeSoto: Shouldn't Force HPV Vaccinations
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Congratulations to two brave Americans, who have spoken up publicly for the informed consent ethic, which includes the right of parents to make informed, voluntary vaccination choices for their children. Each undoubtedly knew how much criticism and pressure might come as a consequence, but must have chosen to speak out, nevertheless, as a matter of conscience. They and all those who stand up for truth and freedom, despite the personal or professional risk, are following in the footsteps of those who came to America to escape persecution for their beliefs and fought to create a democracy that protects minorities from exploitation by the powerful.
As we are all witnessing, proposed HPV vaccine mandates are rolling through many state legislatures at warp speed. State and federal health officials (who are supposed to be legally prohibited from playing politics) and drug company lobbyists are in state Capitols pressuring politicians to make every little girl in America get injected with three doses of HPV vaccine before becoming sexually active or be denied the right to attend school. They are voting to mandate a vaccine for a disease which cannot be transmitted in school and which will cost the parents, the states and the nation billions to prevent a cancer, which can be almost 100 percent prevented through either abstinence, condom use or annual pap smears.
Citizens in every state, who want to be free to make vaccine choices in the future, should pick up the phone, get to a fax machine, send an email or get in the car and go visit their state representatives and senators and make their voices heard. There is only one mechanism in a democracy for getting vaccine laws passed, which support the right to voluntary, informed consent: vote for politicians who will vote for freedom or vote them out in the next election.
No forced vaccination. Not in America.
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