Merck & Company is lobbying to make an “immunization” against cervical cancer mandatory for girls as young as 11 to 12 years of age. Keep in mind this form of cervical cancer can only be contracted sexually. And If passed, this of course would secure billions in sales for the pharmaceutical leader.
A few months ago, very few women knew anything about the Human Pappilomavirus (HPV). At best, the general consensus was that it could result in abnormal PAP smears. Then began the slow, brain washed educational process of informing women about the fact that they could be infected with HPV and not have any symptoms. Within a few months, almost every woman was wondering if they’re at risk for getting cervical cancer.
Here’s why:
National television ad campaigns began several months ago featuring several women stating flat out they didn’t know how a virus caused cervical cancer, and you, (insert millions of women viewers) may have it and not even know it. Talk about FEAR mongering, all in the name of science.
Yet, one must wonder: why would a company tell millions of women that they may have something, a silent deadly virus that causes cervical cancer, and not even know it? In a post 9-11 world, why would someone shout bomb in an airplane?
With the aid of actresses in a national advertising campaign, with the blessings of the FDA and the FTC, with the support of heavy hitting politicians and government officials who hold stakes within the company (I’m sure there’s no bias decision making here) why wouldn’t Merck shout “bomb” or in this case, “Cancer!”
On Saturday, February 3, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed an executive order to make the newly-released HPV vaccine Gardasil mandatory for all young girls before entry into the sixth grade.
How can this happen when there are still doubts in its effectiveness? The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) maintains that Merck’s clinical trials did not prove the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine designed to prevent cervical cancer and genital warts is safe to give to young girls.
The FDA allowed Merck to use a potentially reactive aluminum containing placebo as a control for most trial participants, rather than a non-reactive saline solution placebo. A reactive placebo can artificially increase the appearance of safety of an experimental drug or vaccine in a clinical trial.
For example, if we wanted to test the safety and efficacy of coca-cola on teeth, we would use water as a control or comparison. In the case of Merck clinical trials, they decided to use another soft-drink (which of course manipulated the data).
Gardasil contains 225 mcg of aluminum and, although aluminum adjuvants have been used in vaccines for decades, they were never tested for safety in clinical trials. Merck and the FDA did not disclose how much aluminum was in the placebo.
Here’s whats frightening:
Almost 90% of Gardasil recipients and 85% of aluminum placebo recipients followed-up for safety reported one or more adverse events within 15 days of vaccination. In addition, pain and swelling at the injection site occurred in approximately 83% of Gardasil and 73% of aluminum placebo recipients. Sixty percent of those who got Gardasil or the aluminum placebo had systemic adverse events including headache, fever, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea, myalgia.
The point here is that there is too little long term safety and effectiveness data to recommend Gardasil for universal use, especially mandatory use.
Final Facts about HPV
- The majority of women clear the HPV virus from their bodies naturally but women with risk factors, such as HIV infection, smoking, long-time use of oral contraceptives, and co-infection with herpes simplex virus or chlamydia, are at higher risk for chronic HPV infection.
- Chronic HPV infection is associated with precancerous changes in the cervix which can progress to cervical cancer if left undiagnosed and untreated.
- Between 1955 and 1992, cervical cancer deaths in American women dropped by 74 percent due to routine pap smears.
- There are about 9,800 new cases of cervical cancer annually diagnosed in the U.S., which represents .007 percent out of the approximately 1,372,000 new cancer cases of all types diagnosed.
- There are about 3,700 deaths in mostly older American women annually attributed to HPV-related cervical cancer, which is about .006 percent of the approximately 570,000 cancer deaths that occur in the U.S.
- Most cervical pre-cancers develop slowly, so nearly all cervical cancers can be prevented with regular pap smear screening and prompt treatment.
- Survival for women with pre-invasive cervical cancer lesions is nearly 100% with early diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
