[NVIC] HPV Vaccine Order Unleashes Parents' Anger

[Guest guest]

March 07, 2007

National Vaccine Information Center

A young boy on the beach was throwing the washed-up starfish back into

the ocean. A stranger passing by told him not to bother, because it would

not make any difference, there were thousands of beaches and millions of

starfish, and it would not be possible to save all of them. The boy reached

down, picked up a starfish, threw it back into the ocean and said, smiling

softly, “ I made a difference for that one!”

" 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. " - Levine, Washington Post

" More than 5,900 e-mails and printed notes have been sent to 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 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.... " - , Associated Press

" 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

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.

NVIC

Power of Truth Rally

July 20, 2005, Washington D.C.

----------

Parents Question HPV Vaccine

Push to Mandate Shots Rapidly Creates Backlash

The Washington Post

Sunday, March 4, 2007; C01

By Levine

Click here for the URL:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/03/AR2007030301

356.html?sub=AR

(registration required)

In barely nine months, the first cancer-specific vaccine to win federal

approval has gone from licensing and the enthusiastic embrace of dozens of

states to a widespread backlash against moves to mandate immunization for

adolescent girls.

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. Never have such efforts advanced

largely through political and legislative channels instead of medical

authorities and public education campaigns.

Votes to require the three-dose vaccine before students enter the sixth

grade remain likely in the District and numerous jurisdictions. On Friday,

Virginia Gov. M. Kaine (D) announced he would sign the first bill

in the country to prescribe vaccination, albeit with an opt-out provision.

However, doctors question whether there will be adequate funding and access

to support these measures, and some fear that the opt-out clauses, included

to counter opponents' concerns, could erode support for immunizations in

general.

If parents are given broad opportunity to exempt their 11- and 12-year-old

daughters from the vaccine for the human papillomavirus, or HPV, will they

be less willing to have children of any age inoculated against other, more

communicable diseases?

" The message that we send to parents is exceedingly important, " said

Freed, a professor of pediatrics and health policy at the University of

Michigan and chairman of the federal government's National Vaccine Advisory

Committee. " Are we going to be creating a culture of vaccine refusal that's

not going to serve us well? "

Few people dispute the promise of the new vaccine, which clinical trials

proved to be highly effective against two HPV strains that cause nearly

three-quarters of the 10,000 annual cervical cancer cases in the United

States. About 40 percent of women who receive the diagnosis die. Low-income

and minority women are most affected, with African American mortality rates

more than twice that of whites.

Still, for some parents those numbers might not be great enough to justify

state intervention. Maureen Siegel of Manassas, who has a 10-year-old

daughter, acknowledged she must learn more. " I don't know everything there

is to know about the basics, " she said. " I also don't know if cervical

cancer is a big enough epidemic to make [vaccination] mandatory. "

Because the virus is transmitted through intimate contact, the arguments

for required vaccination differ from the rationale for enforcing shots

against diseases easily spread in schools, such as measles. They are less

about safeguarding the public and more about safeguarding individuals.

" 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.

Yet the backlash is also about the age of children targeted. Although the

government approved Gardasil for women up to 26, it recommended routine

administration to girls 11 and 12 to ensure they be protected before they

become sexually active. The vaccine is most effective when given before

first sexual contact. Its duration is unclear.

Some people argue that vaccination could encourage adolescents to be more

promiscuous. More believe that parents' authority over their daughters'

health care would be usurped. Others point out that cervical cancer will

occur in only a fraction of the more than 7.5 million girls and young women

estimated to be infected with the virus in this country.

A land state senator retreated quickly in January after being deluged

by irate letters about her bill for mass HPV vaccination before middle

school. Still pending is a second bill to create a task force of

legislators, teachers and health professionals to study the issue through

2008.

" I thought it was imperative to continue the conversation, " explained Del.

line Peña-Melnyk (D- Prince 's), who introduced the study

initiative. " People need to be educated on the issue in order to be able to

support it. "

In the District, a mandatory immunization bill could be voted out of the

D.C. Council Health Committee as early as Friday. One sponsor, council

member Cheh (D-Ward 3), has heard mixed reaction from residents, with

the positive responses coming " almost uniformly from women. "

" I really hope people don't lose sight of the fact that this is the first

time we've ever had a vaccine against a cancer, " Cheh said. " You seize and

take advantage of it. "

Local health experts urge more deliberate consideration. " There has to be a

period of awareness, " said ph , executive director of the Child

Health Advocacy Institute at Children's Hospital in Northwest Washington.

The hospital has not decided its position on the council's pending bill.

" Legislators would be wise to recognize the way the public winds are

blowing and build in a very strong public education campaign before

stressing the mandatory aspect. "

Kim Koontz Bayliss, for one, was initially angered by the proposal, seeing

it as an intrusion on her judgment of what is best for her 11-year-old,

Nell. The Cleveland Park resident has come around some in the past month.

After a television commercial on Gardasil prompted questions from her

daughter, she read up on HPV and the vaccine. Nell is due soon for her

annual checkup, and her mother plans to discuss it with the doctor.

But, she added, " I'm not going to make a move until I talk to the

pediatrician. "

Virginia's legislation would not take effect for most sixth-grade girls

until the 2009-2010 school year. (In Texas, an executive order recently

issued by Gov. Rick ® would begin mandatory HPV immunization there

in September 2008.) Proponents say the lengthy notice will allow enough

time to watch for complications as the vaccine is used more broadly. In the

clinical trials, in which 11,000 girls and women participated, a slight

soreness at the site of injection was the only identified side effect.

Recent reports suggest some cases of fainting, dizziness, fever and nausea.

" It's a very cautious approach, " said Del. A. Hamilton (R-Newport

News), who championed the bill. It passed with no organized opposition.

Both he and Kaine have stressed the opt-out clause, which will allow

parents to say no without explaining why. Some contend that if enough

children are excluded, there will be little strength left in the requirement.

" We have no clue yet what the uptake will be for this vaccine, " said Jon

Abramson, chairman of the committee that advises the federal Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention on immunization practices. The panel never

addressed the issue of inoculation as a condition of school attendance.

Abramson, who also is a professor of pediatrics and infectious diseases at

Wake Forest University medical school, does not support the legislative moves.

Although mandates help reduce disparities in health care, he agreed, they

have to be funded. And cost is a key concern in his mind: A three-dose

regimen of Gardasil, given over six months, runs $360 or more, and a

significant part of the population would have to pay out of pocket because

families lack private insurance or do not qualify for a subsidy through the

federal Vaccines for Children program. Dollars often follow mandates, but

they are not guaranteed. Virginia is unusual in that Kaine has added $1.4

million to the budget for coverage.

" It's very, very unclear to me that states have the money to pay for it, "

Abramson said, " and I would be very concerned that kids would be kicked out

of school because parents can't pay. "

land's recent experience with older students and vaccines provides

little reassurance of early compliance. Thousands of teens were barred from

school for weeks in January because they didn't get newly required

chickenpox and hepatitis B shots -- despite extensive publicity and free

clinics.

Abramson advised Merck & Co. not to lobby lawmakers over Gardasil. Merck

disregarded his and others' suggestion, until its role became such a

distraction that the company stopped two weeks ago.

" Politics are not a good driver of health-care recommendations, " Abramson

said. " Time will help us decide what's the best policy. "

Staff writers Theola Labbé and Christy Goodman contributed to this report.

http://www.theeagle.com/stories/030707/texas_20070307025.php

Vaccine order unleashes flood of anger

College Station Eagle, TX

March 7, 2007

By KELLEY SHANNON

Associated Press

Click here for the URL:

AUSTIN - Texans who disagreed with Gov. Rick 's order that girls be

vaccinated against a virus that causes cervical cancer flooded his office

with angry messages in the days after he announced his decision.

More than 5,900 e-mails and printed notes have been sent to 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.

The Associated Press obtained the majority of that correspondence last

month using the Texas Public Information Act and examined a portion of it.

Most of the letters voiced disapproval. Some Texans agreed with 's

goal of fighting cervical cancer, but said mandating the Gardasil vaccine

made by Merck & Co. wasn't the way to achieve it.

" Please, reconsider. Please, return parental choices, control, power to

parents, " wrote Bette D. Bittner of Caldwell.

Ned Funnell of Longview also told the decision to vaccinate belongs

to parents, not the state.

" Aside from endorsing sexual conduct in young girls, the requirement of

this vaccination is an invasion into the people's rights - it's one big

step towards big government, " he said.

has noted that parents can " opt out " of having their children

vaccinated.

Republican legislators are pushing to pass a bill this session that would

override 's vaccine order. They argue that the Merck vaccine is too

new and unproven.

The volume of vaccine mail set no records within the governor's office.

spokesman Ted Royer said the office received almost 31,000 pieces of

correspondence regarding proposed coal-fired power plants from November

through early January. All of it opposed the power plants, and about 24,000

of the messages were from out of state, Royer said.

Some of the anti-vaccine e-mail messages to 's office were sent from

different people but contained identical wording, indicating they were

likely part of an orchestrated letter-writing campaign.

That's common with issues of widespread interest, said Ted Royer, a

spokesman for .

Royer said 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.

" There are some issues that will generate near unanimous contact on one

side of an issue, " Royer said.

Most of the e-mails and letters on the cervical cancer vaccine were from

Texans, with about 1,500 coming from out of state, he said.

The governor's office has a constituent services division that receives

letters and e-mails and responds to them. That division summarizes the

trend in the mail and provides the tallies to top aides to .

Occasionally, correspondence is routed directly to if it's from a

friend or acquaintance or is particularly noteworthy, Royer said.

In the cervical cancer vaccine mail, some Texans said they've always been

supportive of , but that this action turned them away from him or his

Republican Party.

Rhonda Hess of Conroe, who signed herself " a disappointed Texan, " wrote

that the human papilloma virus, or HPV, can be prevented through use of a

condom.

" Why not hand out condoms to 9 year olds? Guess Merck wouldn't make much

money on a condom.... I deeply regret giving my vote to you in the last

election, " Hess wrote.

Tucker of La Marque alluded to recent gubernatorial challenger

Carole Keeton Strayhorn, an unsuccessful independent candidate who called

herself " one tough grandma. "

" You have stepped in it again - big time, " he wrote to . " I now regret

that I didn't vote for the Grandmaw. "

Among the favorable e-mail messages to came from a woman who said she

has HPV and that she wishes she could have had the vaccine. She compared it

to the polio vaccine or any childhood immunization and said administering

the vaccine doesn't have " anything to do with religion or with sending a

signal for teens to have sex. "

" If you can prevent 92% of women from getting Cervical Cancer then why

wouldn't you do it! Thank you! "

http://www.corydondemocrat.com/1editorialbody.lasso?-token.folder=2007-03-06

& -token.story=187664.112112 & -token.subpub

GARDASI VACCINE SHOULD BE PARENTS' CHOICE

Editorial

Corydon Democrat

Mar 07, 2007 09:56 AM

by Tonya Windell

Click here for the URL:

Lawmakers in more than 20 states, including Indiana and Kentucky, have

been hastily drafting legislation regarding a vaccine designed to protect

girls from the most common sexually transmitted disease.

The vaccine, Gardasil, prevents females from acquiring the human

papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause cervical cancer. It was approved last

June by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. HPV is also associated with

several other types of cancer in both women and men. Merck & Co. is the

only manufacturer, and the cost for the three-dose vaccine is around $360

($120 for each dose).

Until recently, Merck had been lobbying governments to make the vaccine

mandatory for school attendance. The push has generated legislation in

numerous states for mandatory vaccination of girls as young as 9, before

they become sexually active, since most sexually active persons have

already been exposed to HPV. However, an advisory committee has recommended

the vaccine for 11- and 12-year-old girls.

Merck claims that Gardasil will prevent some types of cervical cancer since

Gardasil protects against some strains of HPV. It cannot block infection

with all HPV types that cause cervical cancer. It is also unknown as to how

long the vaccine will last, whether it be a few years or longer. Gardasil

should be marketed as an STD vaccine, not as prevention for cancer.

However, I doubt many parents would line up their children to get an STD

vaccine.

Luckily, legislation that has passed Indiana's Senate only requires

information to be sent home about HPV and that there is a vaccine for HPV.

The legislation is on its way to the House for consideration.

I am happy our Senate 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.

Merck's lobbying for the vaccine to be mandatory in all young girls has

turned cervical cancer into a monstrous killer of women. Cervical cancer

kills less than 5,000 women in the United States annually, and most women

who develop it have not had regular pap smears, according to the Centers

for Disease Control. The CDC also lists the greatest risk factor for

cervical cancer as not getting screened and even lists it as a rare

disease. While I agree those deaths shouldn't be taken lightly, there are

many diseases that kill a lot more annually.

In the United States, heart disease is responsible for more than half a

million deaths annually. Other types of cancer kill a little more than

500,000 people and influenza kills more than 50,000 annually. However, we

are not making it mandatory to vaccinate children against the flu which

kills many more people each year than cervical cancer.

The AIDS virus is set to join heart disease and stroke in the next 25 years

as one of the top three leading causes of death. However, this country

isn't doing the best job at educating young people about this disease and

other STDs.

Since President Bush has taken office, the federal government has

only provided funding for abstinence-only sex-education programs. Some

states have refused federal funding and provided comprehensive programs.

However, some haven't. Abstinence-only programs not only do not provide

youth with every choice available to them, but they also leave them empty

handed if they become sexually active. We need programs that present our

youth with each possibility, not just one choice.

If governments want to stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and

prevent the cancers some of those diseases cause, they need to provide

comprehensive programs. Because in reality, some of those 11- and

12-year-old girls have already become sexually active, and they don't have

the information needed to make positive decisions about protecting themselves.

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.

*************************************************************

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