[PROVE] Merck suspends lobbying for cervical cancer vaccine mandate

[Guest guest]

Posted on Tue, Feb. 20, 2007

Merck suspends lobbying for cervical cancer vaccine mandate

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/business/16742292.htm

LINDA A. JOHNSON

Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. - 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.

The drug maker, which announced the change late Tuesday, had been criticized by

parents and doctors' groups for quietly funding the campaign, via a third party,

to require 11- and 12-year-old girls get the three-dose vaccine in order to

attend school.

Some had objected because the vaccine protects against a sexually transmitted

disease, human papilloma virus, which causes cervical cancer. Vaccines mandated

for school attendance usually are for diseases easily spread through casual

contact, such as measles and mumps.

" Our goal is about cervical cancer prevention and we want to reach as many

females as possible with Gardasil, " Dr. M. Haupt, Merck's medical

director for vaccines, told The Associated Press.

" We're concerned that our role in supporting school requirements is a

distraction from that goal, and as such have suspended our lobbying efforts, "

Haupt said, adding the company will continue providing information about the

vaccine if requested by government officials.

Merck launched Gardasil, the first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, in June.

Sales totaled $235 million through the end of 2006, according to Merck.

Last month, the AP reported that Merck was channeling money for its

state-mandate campaign through Women in Government, an advocacy group made up of

female state legislators across the country.

Conservative groups opposed the campaign, saying it would encourage premarital

sex, and parents' rights groups said it interfered with their control over their

children.

Even two of the prominent medical groups that supported broad use of the

vaccine, the American Academy of Pediatricians and the American Academy of

Family Practitioners, questioned Merck's timing, Haupt said Tuesday.

" They, along with some other folks in the public health community, believe there

needs to be more time, " he said, to ensure government funding for the vaccine

for uninsured girls is in place and that families and government officials have

enough information about it.

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 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.

The vaccine also is controversial because of its price - $360 for the three

doses required over a six-month stretch. Because of that cost and what

pediatricians and gynecologists say is inadequate reimbursement by insurers,

many are choosing not to stock the vaccine or requiring surcharges to administer

it, increasing the cost for many families and making the vaccine hard to come

by.

Merck shares were down in after-hours trading on the New York Stock Exchange,

falling 35 cents to $44.15 after rising 22 cents in regular trading to close at

$44.50.

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Dawn

PROVE(Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education)

prove@... (email)

http://vaccineinfo.net/ (web site)

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