James Dobson is going to be pissed...
I’m certainly not in the habit of praising Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), but he clearly made the right call on an HPV vaccine. Less than a year after the FDA approved the vaccine that builds an immunity against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, Texas has become the first state to require all 11- and 12-year-old girls entering the sixth grade to get the shot.
I applaud Rick Perry for his decisive approach on this issue. I will have to put this in my news filter. I am sure it is going to cause a fundie shit storm (they have those in Texas you know).
(Posted while listing to King Tubby - King Tubby's Explosion Dub - off Trojan dub box set.)
The Facts About GARDASIL
ReplyDelete1. 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 strains (even the four "bad ones" protected for in GARDASIL) results in no known 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.
For a more complete discussion on GARDASIL with sources, click on my name.
I also agree that what Gov. Perry did was the right thing. I do wonder if it was for the wrong reason. Governor Hair has buddies at Merck and they were a big contributor to his PAC. I think it's important to know a politician's motives regardless of party or professed ideology.
ReplyDeleteThe last thing you could ever call me is a fundamentalist Christian, yet STILL I think what Perry did was ridiculous and downright corrupt.
ReplyDeletePerry has accepted campaign contributions from Merck. Merck is also the same company which told us they had "researched" and fully vetted Vioxx, which, if you recall, subsequently killed people. Gardasil is a new vaccine and I would never EVER take a new drug or vaccine for myself until I knew whether it worked or whether it caused damaging side-effects. This goes doubly for my child.
Beyond that, a governmental body should not be telling the parent of a girl child to inject a foreign vaccine into said girl child's body. As it stands tetanus vaccinations are not compulsory; granted, you need one to get into most public schools, but that doesn't make them compulory. That's number one.
Number two, the particular strain of cervical cancer this vaccine claims to prevent (usually) occurs as a result of sexual contact due to choice and not pathology. In other words, a girl decides to have sex and then gets this communicable disease. This is unfortunate to be sure, but the education about unsafe sex should have started in the home and then continued in the schools. The answer isn't to inject that girl in the ass with a suspect vaccination distributed by an even more suspect drug company who by the way, happened to give the Governor now demanding the vaccine be compulosry money for his campaign. That's sheer craziness.
If you're liberal, you should love Perry. He's doing the least Republican thing a politican can do---he's creating an unwanted, unnecessary beaurocratic governmental body to subsidize and administer a ridiculous and corrupt-at-the-go social program which is controversial at best and unwanted at worst.
I am the mother of a daughter. I have spoken to my doctor about this issue and am presently considering giving this vaccine to my chiled in order protect her general health well-being. If this vaccine is good, then yes, I want it for her. I don't want it, however, until I see what it really does, whether it hurts people, whether it even works. And you know what? That's exactly what my liberal doctor told me, too. He wants me to wait and he wants me to choose carefully.
And in the end, it's all about choice. I resent anyone taking that away from me or anyone else.
Hot button issue. Thanks for letting me sound off.
Forcing an 11 year-old-girl to get a vaccine protecting them from a SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE is absolutely insane. The government is basically saying is okay to be a turbo slut once you hit double digits! I refuse to send that message to my daughter. Perry can suck it.
ReplyDeleteGeorge - I guess I understand the strange logic here. You have a chance of protecting your daughter from a sexually transmitted disease. A disease that could kill her. Yet you will withhold it because you think a shot will turn her into a slut. Never mind that people the world over are given immunizations for all types of diseases with the intent of irradiating the disease not treating moral conditions. Never mind that your daughter will grow up and have sex - cause she will, and you never get to choose with who. Never mind that you are risking the life of your daughter because of misguided moral judgements when in reality having the shot and teaching your daughter moral standards, no matter how biblical they are, will prevent her from ever contracting HPV.
ReplyDeleteYou dumbass redneck fundie - you are condemning you daughter to the possibility of death by cancer. It does not get are worse than that "George".
George-
ReplyDeleteI hope your daughter is never the victim of rape. Especially rape by a guy who has HPV.
I also hope that she listens to everything you tell her, and that she never sleeps with a guy who has HPV.
What I don't understand is your belief that the government is saying anything, right or wrong, about being a "turbo slut." The government is saying "you need to get vaccinated because this disease is out there, and it's dangerous." Nothing more. No moral judgment, no implications, nothing.
Such nasty words thrown around..LOL!! But, now that it's been about a year later, here's the real scoop behind the whole mess regarding HPV (coming from an insider).
ReplyDeleteRick Perry never intended the HPV vaccine to pass. Perry is just as opposed to the HPV vaccine as any other social conservative in Texas; in fact, Perry banked on the notion that Texas citizens would be infuriated with the thought of requiring young girls to have a vaccine that was associated with sexual behavior and activity.
Essentially, by passing an executive order, Perry was destroying the chances that the bill would be introduced at a later time since he knew that the legislators would automatically attack the executive order as being unconstitutional.
Sadly, physicians and nurses across the state who supported the HPV vaccine were devastated since Perry's order effectively ruined any chances of vaccinating girls (and yes, boys too) from a sexually transmitted disease that is linked to cervical cancer. Essentially, Texas could have become a leader in pubic health; but, this stunt will certainly keep Texas behind.
Who's the fool here? A man who obviously loves his daughter and wishes for her to grow up with self respect? Or the ones who turn that against him in some moronic attempt to shame him into accepting your views? Yes, most everyone will have sex with another person at some point in their life. Depending on perceived morality this should be done whenever, or in the constraints of marriage. I have daughters and hopefully have raised them not to be sluts, even though I looked for the sluts at the bars because, well we all know the reasons. That was years ago and now I want my daughters to be the type of woman I married and always knew I'd marry; one with self respect, ambition, and compassion. But all of this doesn't have one single thing to do with Merck, Gardasil, or vaccines. Stickdog laid it out perfectly and you all chose, rightfully so, to ignore his post and go after the "moral" argument. You self professed atheists should jump at the chance to argue your point logically, instead of placing your "faith" in a government/corporate backed study showing how "great" this will be for all the little girls. Look at the facts; then try if you wish to argue with them. You think you've awakened to the curse of Christianity, wake up to the corruption of Corporate/State government. This is the perfect example for you to start with.
ReplyDelete