I can see a number of people responding to this new vaccine only have mainstream media information and seem to wear their ignorance proudly.  No vaccines are without side effects and none should be mandatory.  Anyone who does any research into the history knows there is no proof that vaccines have eradicated any diseases.  They were all in a decline before vaccines were mandated.  There is too much evidence that the increase in vaccinations seem to parallel the advent/increase in autism, juvenile cancer, diabetes, asthma, ADD, ADHD, SIDS, etc.  Ask someone you know who has had a child affected by any of the aforementioned ailments how soon it occurred after having had a round of vaccine administered.  The biggest beneficiaries of any vaccines, especially mandated ones, are the pharmaceutical companies, their investors and the politicians bribed by them!!!

This is not a right/left issue! Although I’m sure the politicians love seeing us all fight.  As human beings, do we or don’t we own our bodies?  When if ever does the State have the right to inject anything into our bodies.  The answer is NEVER.  All vaccinations should be optional.  If you choose not to get vaccinated, for whatever reason, then you and you alone take the risk of contracting a serious disease.  If you are vaccinated(and the vaccinations really work), then your are protected.  It’s mindless that the liberals are supporting this mandatory vaccination order primarily to oppose the Christian right.  Come on Libs.. you’ve always been a huge supporter of a womans right to her body.  What happened?

If you think this vaccine is okay then put your 11 year old daughter at the front of the line.  I do not trust pharmaceutical companies and I no longer trust Rick Perry.

Perry is not looking out for Texans. It’s time to stand up against the abuses going on here in Texas by Rick Perry. I’m ashamed to say that I voted for dirtbag. Don’t they have a border to close?

All women and girls everywhere should be required to have this shot at government expense.

“Long term effects and side effects are as yet unknown.” #51367

The American Academy of Pediatrics agrees. 

/… some medical experts say lawmakers are moving too fast in their efforts to vaccinate all school-age girls. The American Academy of Pediatrics, for instance, is urging a go-slow approach, with an initial focus on raising public awareness of HPV and more monitoring of the safety of the vaccine, which had minimal side effects in clinical trials but hasn’t been observed in larger-scale rollouts.

“A lot of us are worried it’s a little early to be pushing a mandated HPV vaccine,” said Dr. Martin Myers, director of the National Network for Immunization Information. “It’s not that I’m not wildly enthusiastic about this vaccine. I am. But many of us are concerned a mandate may be premature, and it’s important for people to realize that this isn’t as clear-cut as with some previous vaccines.”

He added, “It’s not the vaccine community pushing for this."/

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.md.cerv ical29jan29,0,166914.story?page=1&coll=bal-health-headl ines

There are two sides to every discussion, of course. This vaccine does appear to confer some benefits. If I were a sexually active woman who disliked condoms and liked to have multiple sex partners who had not yet been exposed to any of the four strains of HPV that this vaccine protects against, I just might sign myself up.

But that’s not the same thing as making this vaccine MANDATORY for a preteen population it was not rigorously tested on a scant 8 months after its initial rush job FDA approval.

Aside from all the known risks of all vaccines, the unknown risks of this three shot regimen for preteens along with their other vaccine load, and the unknown long term risks of this vaccine for all populations, we have to look at cost vs. benefit.

7861 of the placebo subjects contracted 83 cases of HPV 6-, 11-, 16-, 18-related dysplasias during the testing period compared compared to 4 cases among the 7858 subjects who were given GARDASIL. That’s after counting out every subject with any prior exposure to these strains. This includes 42 of the less serious HPV 6-, 11- related low grade dysplasias.

Merck has published no data for how many non-HPV 6-, 11-, 16-, 18-related dysplasias were contracted by these subjects over these periods, but some practitioners have commented that they expect the vaccine to protect against 40%-50% of all dysplasias.

In terms of every possible kind of dysplasia for which this vaccine confers protection, Merck’s own clinical evidence suggests that this vaccine saved about 10 patients out of each 1000 injected from the painful process of having these dysplasias treated (over the entire course of follow ups which ranged from 18 months to 4 years). Note that the populations for these studies were not preteens but women at the height of their sexual activity. Further note that since the vaccine uses virus-like particles (a new vaccine technology) and is only about five years in testing now, there is no guarantee that it has any long term efficacy.

Of course, the pre-teen population is so less sexually active (and when active, so much less likely to be active with a previously contaminated partner) that I think it would be conservative to estimate that preteens are 5 times less likely to contract HPV dysplasias than the 16 to 26 year olds who were tested by Merck. So instead of saving 10 women per 1000 from painful treatments for HPV dysplasias, this vaccine would save perhaps 2 girls per 1000 from these procedures among the much younger population that Merck and Merck’s politicians are targeting for mandatory vaccination.

Do we really want to pursue a public policy that costs $360,000 to vaccinate every 1000 girls while exposing each and every one of these thousand girls to the known adverse short term and largely unknown long terms side effects of three injections of a new vaccine just to save two of the more sexually active of these kids from having to have their dysplasias treated conventionally?

What kind of a risk and cost vs. benefit trade off is that?

In response to Comment #51530

Your comments are not only breathtaking in their ignorance and misinformed nature, they are sadly reflective of many people out there who revel in hypocrisy.

So, “Vaccines do not eradicate or cure viral diseases”? That’s why smallpox is such a problem these days. Why polio is such an epidemic. Vaccines HELP eradicate viral diseases, but when they are not mandated, only compliance and education can win the day - and sadly these two things just don’t win the day.

The rest of your comment just shows how pig-ignorant you are:

“For the men who worry about contracting HPV, try abstinence or a condom.  Or do you prefer little girls risk their health and future for your irresponsibility?  Our son heard about this HPV vaccine and asked, “What are they trying to do, sterilize them?”

A vaccine against a virus that causes cervical cancer is tantamount to sterilization? And implying that it is “little girls” at risk - so do they stay girls forever? Perhaps you should contemplate what you have written as it is very disturbing indeed. Men in favor of the vaccine are pedophiles, at least according to you.

If you’re in favor of the MMR jab, or other innoculations, then you’re just being a hypocrite now because it suits you. If you’re not in favor of ANY state-mandated innoculations, then at least you’re consistent, if not idiotic.

This is not driven by principle, either progressive or neanderthal.  Perry stands to reap enormous contributions from Big Pharma, which stands to profit fabulously by this requirement.

God only knows what is in that vaccine - and now it’s gonna be a law in the State of Texas, that every girl has to get it?  Just exactly what IS in that vaccine? Does anyone know, except the Pharm Corporations that manufacture it in the lab? Awful lot of mistakes have been known to happen with new drugs.  Sounds very hasty to me. If I had a daughter in Texas, I’d be shopping for a new job, in a new state, right this minute.

#51530 Do Your Homework, you’re saying you know the truth and you it base on information you’ve gleaned.  Your confidence is worth emulating.

“ #51498 by ferguson on 2/03 at 6:10 pm

So public health trumps privacy. So let’s lock up all fat people, people that don’t exercise, people that drink, smoke, eat meat, etc. Cervical cancer is not typhoid and the government has no right making our individual health choices. And let’s talk polio.  The only people that contract polio in this country are the ones that get the vaccine. “

Did you deliberately mis-read me or are you deliberately taking it another direction?  Public Health trumping privacy does NOT refer to the health of individuals--GET THAT STRAIGHT!  It refers SOLELY to infectious, contagious diseases. 
HPV is just that, and a vaccine that reduces it is highly valuable.

If another 1918 flu pandemic hits will all you religious nuts and vegan-types think you will get away without being vaccinated because of religious and philosophical beliefs?  50 million died in that pandemic that last 12-18 month, many in as little as 3 days making it the most deadly infectious disease ever--topping bubonic plague and AIDS.  And they now know the 1918 virus is a form of bird flu....

Some fool here said you only get polio from the vaccine--my father had it LONG before there was a vaccine, and my eldest brother was part of the first campaign to protect school kids.  The dead vaccine only protected you for a year, but by giving it to all the kids, the back of polio in America was broken, so that when the live vaccine came out, the battle was nearly one.

That same fool said vaccinations don’t work--How many cases of Smallpox were there in the world last year? None.  There hasn’t been a recorded case in decades and they haven’t vaccinated kids since around 1980 (to my shock).  The attack on Smallpox is the most successful eradication of a disease world-wide in human history.

Why vaccination works, and doesn’t work is simple: The vaccine forces you to build antibodies against that virus.  They also protect against closely related viruses.  If the exact virus infects you, the anti-bodies quickly wipe it out.  If it is close, they knock out enough of the virus so you only get mildly ill and your body produces the correct anti-bodies.  This same mechanism is why you go years getting colds very rarely, followed by seasons where you are always sick.  It has to do with the strains of virus, how resistant you are to them, and how fast they mutate into forms you can’t fight off.

And I’m not a fanatic--the flu shot every year gets me sick and doesn’t prevent me catching flu--it’s only a guess of what is close to the strain that will be out that year.

Another case: Many parents in Europe choose not to have their children innoculated with the pertusis vaccine--whooping cough.  Pertusis is one of the nastier vaccines in that it makes the kid pretty sick, and you have to watch them really carefully for allergic reaction.  But the opting-out in Europe created a BIG bulge in the rise of whooping cough cases.

I’m sorry--you just don’t have a right to walk around with contagious diseases.  You don’t have a right to get MY kid sick because you don’t believe in something or other.

So GET Thimerasol out of all drugs...damn stuff should be banned unconditionally--it used to be in contact lens fluid and I’m allergic to it.  It’s grimly funny that arch-conservative Dan Burton became a liberal on this issue when it hit HIS family (this was the guy who called Bill Clinton a “scumbag” from the floor of the House).  It’s not banned because Bush politicized the FDA along with every other govt agency.  And the politics of George Bush ALWAYS favor big corporations.  See, the drug companies should not have the right EITHER to do what they want when it endangers public health, like using mercury based Thimerasol.

The INFORMED opinion of parents must be seriously considered in any democratic society.

The operative term is, of course, INFORMED. Which, by definition, leaves out about 99% of all parents. Hysterical, prejudiced, biased interpretation of obscure passages from a book of religious dogma is NOT informed opinion… it is NONSENSE, SUPERSTITION, and GLIB ASSUMPTION.

Secondly, to INFORM all citizens of the benefits of HPV and make it available to all free of charge is all the state should do. Those citizens who are intelligent enough to understand the benefits and take steps to protect themselves will survive to reproduce. Those who are not, will die out, hopefully BEFORE reproducing, thus helping to detoxify the gene pool! Natural selection at work.

Vaccines do not eradicate or cure viral diseases. If you give your pet a rabies vaccine, it can still contract rabies (oh, my!) My brother contracted Polio at age four--I was age two.  We were in close contact, shared toys and swapped spit.  I never got Polio! And my brother was not crippled or deformed by Polio the way some people were.  Turn off LMN (lying, media news) and try watching link tv or free speech tv.  Better yet, try reading one of Dr. Sherry Tenpenny’s books on vaccines or other medical professionals’ opinions or books.  This HPV vaccine does not protect women from all forms of cervical cancers (if any) and pap smears and pelvics have not been replaced by this vaccine.  Who remembers what happened to the child-bearing women in the Phillipines who were forced to get a flu vaccine ?  Not only did these women find they could never bear children, after being given this vaccine,but the poison they were given got into their DNA.  Their daughters, grand-daughters and so on, also were unable to have children.  Today, there is still mercury in the flu-vaccines.  Mercury has been linked to many childhood problems such as autism, ADHD, etc.  Big pharma said they would remove the mercury a few years ago and we’re still waiting....And why, if these drugs are sooo wonderful, do pharmaceutical companies want immunity from lawsuits caused by the very drugs they make?  For the men who worry about contracting HPV, try abstinence or a condom.  Or do you prefer little girls risk their health and future for your irresponsibility?  Our son heard about this HPV vaccine and asked, “What are they trying to do, sterilize them?” (He reads) Those of you who prefer to hand over your responsibilities, freedoms, your rights, will get the government you deserve.  Do your homework before it’s too late!

///...opponents who feel the treatment encourages premarital sex

How can this be a rationale argument?

Helping safeguard someone from potential Cancer will encourage premarital sex?!

Would they be willing to live with their conscious or take responsibility - decades from now - for all those who got cancer and who would have been saved had they gotten the vaccine?

I’m shocked that Truthdig fell for this one.  The AP is so utterly unreliable here.  Rick Perry proves that with so many Republicans even evangelist ideology will get trumped when there is a chance to sacrifice public good for private gain.  Get these nasty experimental vaccines away from these defenseless kids and find another way to enrich Americans Retirement investments in Big Pharma Rick Perry is not the only one beholden to our Medication driven economy.

Do you wish to addressed as Mein Fuhrer, or Supreme Being Mr. Perry, or should I call you Dick?

Did god make you King of Texas or are your motivatives more financial?

Texas gave us Lyndon, Bush 1, Exxon, Bush 2, now Perry.

If I were a Texan I would start a recall campaign tomorrow.

The Facts About Gardacil

1) GARDASIL is a vaccine for 4 strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), two strains that are strongly associated (and probably cause) genital warts and two strains that are typically associated (and may cause) cervical cancer. About 90% of people with genital warts show exposure to one of the two HPV strains strongly suspected to cause genital warts. About 70% of women with cervical cancer show exposure to one of the other two HPV strains that the vaccine is designed to confer resistance to.

2) HPV is a sexually communicable (not an infectious) virus. When you consider all strains of HPV, over 70% of sexually active males and females have been exposed. A condom helps a lot (70% less likely to get it), but has not been shown to stop transmission in all cases (only one study of 82 college girls who self-reported about condom use has been done). For the vast majority of women, exposure to HPV does not result in any health problems.

3) Cervical cancer is not a deadly nor prevalent cancer in the US or any other first world nation. Cervical cancer rates have declined sharply over the last 30 years and are still declining. Cervical cancer accounts for less than 1% of of all female cancer cases and deaths in the US. Cervical cancer is typically very treatable and the prognosis for a healthy outcome is good. The typical exceptions to this case are old women, women who are already unhealthy and women who don’t get pap smears until after the cancer has existed for many years.

4) Merck’s clinical studies for GARDASIL were problematic in several ways. Only 20,541 women were used (half got the “placebo”) and their health was followed up for only four years at maximum and typically 1-3 years only. More critically, only 1,121 of these subjects were less than 16. The younger subjects were only followed up for a maximum of 18 months. Furthermore, less than 10% of these subjects received true placebo injections. The others were given injections containing an aluminum salt adjuvant (vaccine enhancer) that is also a component of GARDASIL. This is scientifically preposterous, especially when you consider that similar alum adjuvants are suspected to be responsible for Gulf War disease and other possible vaccination related complications.

5) Both the “placebo” groups and the vaccination groups reported a myriad of short term and medium term health problems over the course of their evaluations. The majority of both groups reported minor health complications near the injection site or near the time of the injection. Among the vaccination group, reports of such complications were slightly higher. The small sample that was given a real placebo reported far fewer complications — as in less than half. Furthermore, most if not all longer term complications were written off as not being potentially vaccine caused for all subjects.

6) Because the pool of test subjects was so small and the rates of cervical cancer are so low, NOT A SINGLE CONTROL SUBJECT ACTUALLY CONTRACTED CERVICAL CANCER IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM — MUCH LESS DIED OF IT. Instead, this vaccine’s supposed efficacy is based on the fact that the vaccinated group ended up with far fewer cases (5 vs. about 200) of genital warts and “precancerous lesions” (dysplasias) than the alum injected “control” subjects.

7) Because the tests included just four years of follow up at most, the long term effects and efficacy of this vaccine are completely unknown for anyone. All but the shortest term effects are completely unknown for little girls. Considering the tiny size of youngster study, the data about the shortest terms side effects for girls are also dubious.

8) GARDASIL is the most expensive vaccine ever marketed. It requires three vaccinations at $120 a pop for a total price tag of $360. It is expected to be Merck’s biggest cash cow of this and the next decade.

These are simply the facts of the situation as presented by Merck and the FDA.

Oh Dr. Knowitall, what about those of us who like to get all oiled up before sex? I don’t think we’ll be game. Gamey, maybe…

Being pathologically paranoid about everything coming from Rethuglicans, I look for the loopholes in this.

#1, it’s an unfunded mandate. Government says you must do it; government doesn’t provide any money to pay for it. Perry says state health departments have to “provide” it, but doesn’t say they need to provide it for everyone. If they “provide” two doses at each health department office, you’re outta luck if you’re person Number Three through 3,000. At a cost of $360, for a total of three injections spread over several months, how many people will be able to pay for this and find the time to complete the course? Will insurance companies pay for it, assuming many people have health insurance in Texas. Lots of poor people and immigrants won’t follow through. Will all of these children be kept from school?

#2, the religious exemption. A sop to the Christians who want to believe their girls won’t have sex with anyone but their husband, and AFTER they are married. As far as public health goes, letting a large part of the population opt out doesn’t do anything to help “herd immunity” as it’s called (no lie!) It does help in Darwinian terms by potentially eliminating many stupid religious spawn from the gene pool, but that’s a horrible, eugenic way to think, and I would never hold such an opinion myself.

#3, The story didn’t indicate whether the ruling applied to private schools. But I bet it doesn’t. So is this another slam at the public school system? “Sorry, you can’t go to the schhol that your tax money pay for, but there’s that nice Christian school across the way.” And when enrollment drops because so many young girls are kept from education—how funademtalist Islam!—the great state of Texas can cut the education budget in the future.

Man, am I ever paranoid. I’d get myself to stop that kinda thinking, but it’s usually RIGHT.

Not quite.  “Required” isn’t quite the word when a parent can download a form online to decline the vaccine for religious reasons.  Perry just has his priorities.  Money from corps first, then the christofascists.

So public health trumps privacy. So let’s lock up all fat people, people that don’t exercise, people that drink, smoke, eat meat, etc. Cervical cancer is not typhoid and the government has no right making our individual health choices. And let’s talk polio.  The only people that contract polio in this country are the ones that get the vaccine. My daughter has had no vaccines in her life. We had to fill out a conscientious objector/religious exemption form before she was allowed in school. I’m not religious. I believe we all have the right to make our own choices regarding our own bodies. Vaccines are dangerous. They’ve been proven to be dangerous. My daughter is now grown and is one of the only people I’ve ever known to rarely be ill. She has had a couple of colds and the flu once in her entire life. That is not by accident. When she did get ill I used Ayurvedic herbs and Homeopathy. Minor illnesses are just that minor. The vast majority of illnesses clear up on their own but we’re conditioned to run to the doctor everytime we get the sniffles. 

And one more point ... both major political parties are corrupt and are using the American people as pawns. Our country is headed down the tubes. Everyone should start learning Chinese. They will be our masters before this century is out.

Tough subject!  Well the religious right does not want it, why?  goes against some stupid biological belief crapola.  Some one said that the air guns may have infected some with Hep C.(maybe, maybe not).  Some say this guys is in bed with Merck, what politician is not in bed with...any corp?
All so far are pretty flimsy reasons to and not to.  Personally I’d want to see evidence and support from Medical institutions, scientist, tials and the like, instead of politicians bullshit, or control freak religious bastards telling me how to live my life.
Politicians can go to hell when it comes to our health.  Religion has a lousy track record when it comes to fixing diseases, or saving lives for that matter.  This is not a polical issue.  And most assuredly not a religious issue.  It is a health issue, period.  That concerns all of us, religious or not, Nazi(read republican) or not. 

Show me the proof that this works, most likely it does folks, just like the polio vaccine and countless others.  Get real folks...get real.

Headless

The Facts about GARDASIL

1) GARDASIL is a vaccine for 4 strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), two strains that are strongly associated (and probably cause) genital warts and two strains that are typically associated (and may cause) cervical cancer. About 90% of people with genital warts show exposure to one of the two HPV strains strongly suspected to cause genital warts. About 70% of women with cervical cancer show exposure to one of the other two HPV strains that the vaccine is designed to confer resistance to.

2) HPV is a sexually communicable (not an infectious) virus. When you consider all strains of HPV, over 70% of sexually active males and females have been exposed. A condom helps a lot (70% less likely to get it), but has not been shown to stop transmission in all cases (only one study of 82 college girls who self-reported about condom use has been done). For the vast majority of women, exposure to HPV does not result in health complications of any kind.

3) Cervical cancer is not a deadly nor prevalent cancer in the US or any other first world nation. Cervical cancer rates have declined sharply over the last 30 years and are still declining. Cervical cancer accounts for less than 1% of of all female cancer cases and deaths in the US. Cervical cancer is typically very treatable and the prognosis for a healthy outcome is good. The typical exceptions to this case are old women, women who are already unhealthy and women who don’t get pap smears until after the cancer has existed for many years.

4) Merck’s clinical studies for GARDASIL were problematic in several ways. Only 20,541 women were used (half got the “placebo") and their health was followed up for only four years at maximum and typically 1-3 years only. More critically, only 1,121 of these subjects were less than 16. The younger subjects were only followed up for a maximum of 18 months. Furthermore, less than 10% of these subjects received true placebo injections. The others were given injections containing an aluminum salt adjuvant (vaccine enhancer) that is also a component of GARDASIL. This is scientifically preposterous, especially when you consider that similar alum adjuvants are suspected to be responsible for Gulf War disease and other possible vaccination related complications.

5) Both the “placebo” groups and the vaccination groups reported a myriad of short term and medium term health problems over the course of their evaluations. The majority of both groups reported minor health complications near the injection site or near the time of the injection. Among the vaccination group, reports of such complications were slightly higher. The small sample that was given a real placebo reported far fewer complications—as in less than half. Furthermore, most if not all longer term complications were written off as not being potentially vaccine caused for all subjects.

6) Because the pool of test subjects was so small and the rates of cervical cancer are so low, NOT A SINGLE CONTROL SUBJECT ACTUALLY CONTRACTED CERVICAL CANCER IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM—MUCH LESS DIED OF IT. Instead, this vaccine’s supposed efficacy is based on the fact that the vaccinated group ended up with far fewer cases (5 vs. about 200) of genital warts and “precancerous lesions” (dysplasias) than the alum injected “control” subjects.

7) Because the tests included just four years of follow up at most, the long term effects and efficacy of this vaccine are completely unknown for anyone. All but the shortest term effects are completely unknown for little girls. Considering the tiny size of youngster study, the data about the shortest terms side effects for girls are also dubious.

8) GARDASIL is the most expensive vaccine ever marketed. It requires three vaccinations at $120 a pop for a total price tag of $360. It is expected to be Merck’s biggest cash cow of this and the next decade.

These are simply the facts of the situation as presented by Merck and the FDA.

While one reels in puzzlement from the effect of the moralist, Dobson’s, opposition to this measure grounded as it is in its supposedly encouraging sexual promiscuity, a more credible - and obvious - complaint is made from the vantagepoint of privacy. Not content with imposing on us the social engineering projects dear to the heart of every urban reference librarian or university professor, government now fumbles about in little girls panties. What ever happened to “choice” when it really means something?

John Lowell

I think it’s a good thing that Perry has made this vaccine mandatory. Even if he’s getting money from Merck, they’re still saving lives. Just imagine if he tried putting it through the Texas legistlature and it didn’t pass. If Perry hadn’t been lobbied by the company then he wouldn’t even have done this. Not all lobbyists are bad. What really troubles me is, where are New York, Mass., Cali on this? States where the religious right doesn’t have such a strong influence. America has to wake up!

I hope people realize that Texas politicians seem to think their election to office gives them Imperial powers.

Regardless of the Governors position, he nor any other Chief administrator should be allowed to circumvent decisions made by the legislative body.

We need a recall vote on this self-serving idiot.

Interesting comments.  A while ago I read somewhere that the state of Texas is already giving students over 30 vaccinations costing around $4000.  I do not know if this is true and what is happening in other states.  I shudder to think of all the implications if this is true and widespread.  Home schooling anyone?

You people must be joking. Those who actually believe that these vaccinations are safe, reliable and work are being manipulated by the pharmaceutical industry.

First of all this MANDATORY edict is insane and un-American. We are a country that believes in freedom and being forcefully inoculated is not freedom. Whenever you punture the skin it is surgery without consent.

For those Lemmings that really believe that this vaccination will protect them, by all means go ahead and risk your health on some absurd claim by a profit making Drug Company. And secondly why would you worry about catching anything from someone who is not vaccinated if you believe you are protected from the vaccine? It makes no sense to force people against their will to submit to an unproven “miracle drug”.

Obviously people are not considering the potential harmful effects of vaccines. At a recent congressional hearing it was discovered that vaccines are being laced with mercury as a preservative. Mercury a known carcinogen being used in vaccines. Below I quote from an article that appeared in Slate Magazine entitled;
“Deadly Immunity.” Partial text below.

http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/06/16/thi merosal/index2.html?pn=1

“Even many conservatives are shocked by the government’s effort to cover up the dangers of thimerosal. Rep. Dan Burton, a Republican from Indiana, oversaw a three-year investigation of thimerosal after his grandson was diagnosed with autism. “Thimerosal used as a preservative in vaccines is directly related to the autism epidemic,” his House Government Reform Committee concluded in its final report. “This epidemic in all probability may have been prevented or curtailed had the FDA not been asleep at the switch regarding a lack of safety data regarding injected thimerosal, a known neurotoxin.” The FDA and other public-health agencies failed to act, the committee added, out of “institutional malfeasance for self protection” and “misplaced protectionism of the pharmaceutical industry.”

In 1966, I was in the 2nd grade when government & health officials introduced a vaccination using a type of “air gun” syringe that had been tested on soldiers. I don’t remember what kind of vaccine it was, but we were sent home with permission forms as to whether our parents wanted us to participate. My parents hit the roof insisting that these kids were being used as guinea pigs and refused giving permission to vaccinate my brother & I. I remember standing in the hallway watching as all the terrified kids lined up like animals as they filed in--crying, screaming--some were literally dragged & picked up to be brought in for the vaccination. Just watching terrified me as each kid walked out with a trickle of blood on their arms.
The “air gun” syringe used forced air instead of a disposable needle to inject a drug under the skin, but leaving traces of blood on the instrument for the next vaccination in line.  Years later, the “air gun” syringe was discontinued. But years after that, the world discovered an epidemic of Hepatitis C --a blood-to-blood contracted virus that attacks the liver and shows no symptoms until many years later. There’s no way to prove it today, but I believe there is a link between that vaccine experiment and the dozens of my childhood friends who grew up and have either died or went through treatment for Hep C.
DO NOT PUT YOUR FAITH IN THE GOVERNMENT ON THIS CANCER VACCINE ISSUE!!! This is an outrage and any official who pushes it ought to be thrown out!

Just read a blog in which info came out about Merck’s ties to the Perry election campaign.  Seems impossible these days to get unspun or accurate info.  I think the only answer is for Americans to organize and carry out a protracted boycott on SEX and OIL, since those two things seem to be the bane of our existence.  Think of the power!! I think I can do it.  Anyone else game?

Before everyone gets all soft for Rick Perry’s decision to circumvent the legislative process let’s remember his former chief of staff, Mike Toomey is a lobbyist for Merck.  Merck is the developer of the vaccine.  Something smells here.

Or maybe the Governor had, um, an ulterior motive?  Check out this item on Feministing, which points to research that links HPV to cancer of the penis:

http://feministing.com/archives/006459.html

Thank you Perry. My opinion of you has gone up dramatically.

Innoculation against HPV will save many lives and spare future expenses in the billions for pap smears, cancer surgery, and other treatments How anyone could be against this is beyond comprehension.  There is no way to screen parners, there is no test for male infection, and humans lie.  Truth be told, many on the Relgious Right probably carry HPV 16 without admitting.

Public health is one of the few areas that trumps personal freedom.  Your “right” to be Typhoid Mary is EASILY superceded by the rights of everyone else not to be exposed to you.

Lots of parents object to polio vaccine on religious or macrobiotic grounds.  Too bad! Polio is contagious and PERMANENTLY crippling--I know--my father had it as a small child and it left his face twisted all his life.  Massive efforts in the 50’s to innoculate EVERY school kid removed this dread disease from our daily worries.

Religious nuts and their perverse beliefs have killed 10’s of millions over the centuries--and now, when we have GOOD prevention, they would block it and condemn countless women to a PREVENTABLE virus-based cervical cancer.

Yeah, Perry is a corrupt tool of Merck--if they want a monopoly to innoculate every school girl in a America, then they need to drop the price to barely over cost...If you are gonna feed at the trough of government funding you better expect to be treated like a pig.

But your rights in terms of health do NOT give you right to infect others.  That’s why public health can trump privacy.

It’s not just conservative Christian groups denouncing mandatory HPV vaccination. Perry is in bed with the company producing the vaccine. Merck contributed $6000 to his re-election campaign, his former chief of staff is one of their lobbyists, and his chief of staff’s mother-in-law is a state director for Women in Government, an advocacy group of female state legislators which Merck has funneled money through. By making the vaccine mandatory, Perry has removed the rights of citizens to make their own health care choices. Merck stands to gain billions if this move spreads nationwide. I thought we liberals didn’t want the government imposing its laws upon our bodies?

http://www.jwharrison.com/blog/2007/02/03/hpv-vaccine- now-mandatory-in-texas-big-business-rejoices/

Its not about cancer its about selling out to big Pharma. Republicans are for sale to the highest bidder no questions asked.

1) GARDASIL is a vaccine for 4 strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), two strains that are strongly associated (and probably cause) genital warts and two strains that are typically associated (and may cause) cervical cancer. About 90% of people with genital warts show exposure to 1 of the 2 HPV strains strongly suspected to cause genital warts. About 70% of women with cervical cancer show exposure to 1 of the other 2 HPV strains that the vaccine is designed to confer resistance to.

2) HPV is a sexually communicable (not an infectious) virus. When you consider all strains of HPV, over 70% of sexually active people have been exposed.  A condom helps a lot (70% less likely to get it), but has not been shown to stop transmission in all cases (only one study of 82 college girls who self-reported their condom use has been done). For the vast majority of women, exposure to HPV strains (even the 4 “bad ones” protected for in GARDASIL) results in no health complications of any kind.

3) Cervical cancer is not deadly nor prevalent in the US or any other first world nation. Cervical cancer rates have declined sharply over the last 30 years & are still declining. Cervical cancer accounts for less than 1% of of all female cancer cases & deaths in the US. Cervical cancer is typically very treatable and the prognosis for a healthy outcome is good. The typical exceptions to this case are old women, women who are already unhealthy and women who don’t get pap smears until after the cancer has existed for many years.

4) Merck’s clinical studies for GARDASIL were problematic in several ways.  Only 20,541 women were used (half got the “placebo") and their health was followed up for 4 years at maximum and typically only 1-3 years. More critically, only 1,121 of these subjects were less than 16. The younger subjects were only followed up for a maximum of 18 months. Furthermore, less than 10% of these subjects received true placebo injections. The others were given injections containing an aluminum salt adjuvant (vaccine enhancer) that is also a component of GARDASIL. This is scientifically preposterous, especially when you consider that similar alum adjuvants are suspected to be responsible for Gulf War disease and other possible vaccination related complications.

5) Both the “placebo” groups and the vaccination groups reported a myriad of short term and medium term health problems over the course of their evaluations.  The majority of both groups reported minor health complications near the injection site or near the time of the injection. Among the vaccination group, reports of such complications were slightly higher. The small sample that was given a real placebo reported far fewer complications—as in less than half. Furthermore, most if not all longer term complications were written off as not being potentially vaccine caused for all subjects.

6) Because the pool of subjects were so small and the rates of cervical cancer are so low, NOT A SINGLE CONTROL SUBJECT ACTUALLY CONTRACTED CERVICAL CANCER IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM—MUCH LESS DIED OF IT. Instead, this vaccine’s supposed efficacy is based on the fact that the vaccinated group ended up with far fewer cases (5 vs. about 200) of genital warts and “precancerous lesions” (dysplasias) than the alum injected “control” subjects. 

7) Because the tests included just four years of follow up at most, the long term effects and efficacy of this vaccine are completely unknown for anyone. All but the shortest term effects are completely unknown for little girls. Considering the tiny size of youngster study, the data about the shortest terms side effects for girls are also dubious.

8) GARDASIL is the most expensive vaccine ever marketed. It requires three vaccinations at $120 a pop for a total price tag of $360. It is expected to be Merck’s biggest cash cow of this and the next decade.

These are simply the facts of the situation as presented by Merck and the FDA.

It will be a cold day in HELL when the Gov. makes medical decisions for my family!!

Perhaps Perry read Harris’ “Letter to a Christian Nation” I congratulate him.

This post forgets to mention that Merck hired Governor Perry’s former chief of staff, Mike Toomey, as one of their lobbyists.  When corruption trumps the right wing zealots, it is nothing to celebrate.  The hundreds of thousands of dollars Merck is spending in Texas alone would be nothing compared to the payback for mandating their vaccine which would cost $360 per person vaccinated.  Lets not jump to conclusions about how great this vaccine is, nor give Perry credit where none is deserved.

Zealots aside, Perry made a bad decision requiring
vaccination

(apparently as a political favor to Merck or as pre-presidential run pandering).

He should have waited to see what happens in smaller scale use of the vaccine in the general population.

Stupid public policy.

Another politician in bed with Big Pharma. This vaccine is much too new to be made mandatory. Long term effects and side effects are as yet unknown.