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Aug 2, 2008
A month after 13 year old Jenny Tetlock was vaccinated against the HPV virus, she missed the lowest hurdle in gym class. It was the first sign of a degenerative muscle disease that 15 months later left her nearly completely paralyzed.
Her father, Philip Tetlock, a professor at UC-Berkeley, has embarked on an odyssey to find out whether the vaccine, Gardasil, is to blame.
Tetlock is not the only one concerned. The public watchdog group Judicial Watch has been periodically obtaining adverse event reports on Gardasil from the FDA. 10, out of the 18 deaths, have been directly linked to Gardasil since September 2007, and there have been 140 reports so far this year of serious side effects such as miscarriage and Guillain-Barré syndrome.
How Likely are You to Develop and Die From Cervical Cancer?
According to the CDC, cervical cancer used to be the leading cause of cancer death for women in the United States. However, in the past 40 years, the number of cervical cancer cases and the number of deaths thereof have decreased significantly. It is believed that this decline is the result of many women getting regular Pap tests, which can find cervical pre-cancer before it turns into cancer.
According to the U.S. Cancer Statistics: 2004 Incidence and Mortality report, 11,892 women in the U.S. were told that they had cervical cancer in 2004, and 3,850 women died from the disease. The American Cancer Society mirrors these statistics, estimating that about 3,870 women will die from cervical cancer in the U.S. in 2008.
Gardasil can damage your immune system, and can potentially lead to death. The main causes of death include blood clots, acute respiratory failure, cardiac arrest, and “sudden death” due to “unknown causes” shortly after receiving the vaccine. Again, 11 of the reported deaths occurred within 2 weeks of vaccination, and 7 within 2 days, so whatever the mechanism that induces death, it’s quick and efficient.
Well. We’ve already lost 18 girls, some as young as 12, in the effort to spare them from the mere possibility of cervical cancer later in life. Others have developed debilitating and potentially life-threatening ailments within weeks of being vaccinated, and others still have had spontaneous abortions or given birth to babies with birth defects.
Also consider this: Cervical cancer usually develops in your late 20s to mid 30s. The protection period of Gardasil is estimated to be 5 years. That means, if you receive your first set of shots when you’re 10 years old, you’d need at least 2 to 4 additional booster shots to make it through your 30s. And THAT means you’ll have to expose yourself to the potential side effects of Gardasil over and over and over again.
But now to the real clincher, and I want you to read the following section as many times as you need to let this truly sink in…U.S. statistics show there are 30 to 40 cervical cancer cases per year per one million women between the ages of 9 and 26, which is the age bracket that Gardasil targets (and was tested on).
According to Merck, Gardasil was shown to reduce pre-cancers by 12.2% to 16.5% in the general population. So, instead of ending up with 30 to 40 cases of cancer per million, per year, in that age bracket, the HPV vaccine can potentially bring it down to 26 to 35 cases of cervical cancer.
What that means is that you would have to vaccinate one million girls to prevent cervical cancer in 4 to 5 girls.
Further, about 37 percent of women who develop cervical cancer actually die from the disease, so vaccinating ONE MILLION girls would prevent 1 to 2 DEATHS per year, at the bargain-basement price of $360 million per year, plus potentially lifelong suffering for an untold number of women, which has no price tag.
Is this REASONABLE?
Sources: U.S. News and World Report July 2, 2008. A Judicial Watch Special Report: Examining the FDA’s HPV Vaccine Records June 30, 2008
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Judicial Watch believes “The controversial HPV vaccine was fast-tracked for approval by the FDA despite concerns about Gardasil’s safety and long-term effects. The vaccine is still in the testing stages (final report due September 30, 2009), but it is already being administered to thousands of young girls and women.”
In May 2007, Judicial Watch submitted a request to the FDA under the Freedom of Information Act for all records concerning Merck’s new HPV vaccine, Gardasil. After Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit in October 2007 to compel record production, the FDA finally released four sets of documents, the last in June 2008.
Analysis of these records show:
• Gardasil is a prophylactic, preventative vaccine and will not treat pre-existing HPV infection. It is not a cancer vaccine or cure.
• Gardasil is marketed as a vaccine that prevents cancer, but it “ . . . has not been evaluated for the potential to cause carcinogenicity or genotoxicity.”
• Gardasil is not 100% effective against all HPVs. It is designed to protect against only four strains of HPV, even though there are over thirty strains including at least fifteen that can cause cancer.
• While Gardasil is the most expensive vaccine ever to be recommended by the FDA, its long-term effectiveness is unknown and could be as brief as only two to three years.
• During testing, an aluminum-containing placebo was used. Aluminum can cause permanent cell damage and is a reactive placebo, unlike most standard saline placebos. This means that tests of Gardasil may not have given an accurate picture of safety levels.
• Although some states are considering making it mandatory for young girls to get the Gardasil vaccine, it has only been tested with one other vaccine commonly given to children. There are ten commonly administered adolescent vaccines.
• Gardasil is still in the testing stages, and will not be fully evaluated for safety until September 2009. VAERS reports show that as many as eighteen people have died after receiving Gardasil.
“Judicial Watch is concerned by the facts detailed in the FDA’s adverse event reporting associated with Gardasil. Merck has waged an aggressive lobbying campaign with state governments to mandate this HPV vaccine for young girls.
Given all the questions about Gardasil, the best public health policy would be to reevaluate its safety and to prohibit its distribution to minors. In the least, governments should rethink any efforts to mandate or promote this vaccine for children.”
To view the entire report go to www.JudicialWatch.org
Judicial Watch, Inc. 501 School Street, SW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20024
Phone: 202 646.5172 Fax: 202 646.5199
Tell us your views. Go on to our website
www.MyHealthyLivingMag.com and tell us how you feel!
The following highlights recent news of state actions on human papillomavirus vaccine proposals.
Massachusetts: Gov. Deval Patrick (D) on Sunday announced that his budget for fiscal year 2007 includes a $24.8 million increase in public health spending to provide universal state coverage for three new immunizations for children, including an HPV vaccine for 72,126 girls and women ages 9 to 18, the Boston Globe reports (Wangsness, Boston Globe, 2/26). Patrick’s plan would make HPV vaccination optional, MetroWest Daily News reports. Sen. Richard Moore (D) has proposed a bill that would require girls to receive the HPV vaccine before entering sixth grade (Rutherford, MetroWest Daily News, 2/28). Patrick in a statement released on Sunday said, “These investments not only save lives but also reduce treatment costs in the future” (AP/Forbes, 2/26). “Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy.
Let your voice be heard We urge you to write letters to:
Gov. Deval Patrick In charge of the Funding
Gov. Deval Patrick
Massachusetts State House
Office of the Governor
Office of the Lt. Governor
Room 360
Boston, MA 02133
State Senator Richard T. Moore
Wants to Mandate that all sixth grade girls get the shot.
State Senator Richard T. Moore
State House Room 111
Boston, MA 02133
Telephone: 617 722.1420
Party Affiliation - Democrat
Email Address:
Richard.Moore@state.ma.us