Should We Immunize Teen Girls Against HPV?
I have been watching the news coverage discussing the relatively new HPV vaccine, but it wasn’t until I saw that the government is trying to mandate this vaccine for all 6th grade girls, that I decided I needed to talk about it.
HPV or genital human papillomavirus is the cause of 70% of cervical cancer cases and 90% of all genital warts. By offering the vaccine to girls and women ages 9-26, the FDA and Merck, the makers of Gardasil®, stand to save 3,700 lives per year.
However, is it the place for our government to MANDATE this vaccine be given to girls before they enter the 6th grade?
I was discussing the issue (before I saw that it had passed the Virginia House of Representatives) with a friend who’s daughter will be starting High School in the fall. We were both struggling with the whole issue, beginning with, is the vaccine safe?
Then we got into the whole discussion of ethics vs. health. I wouldn’t want my child thinking that just because she had received a shot that she now had the green light to have sex or to somehow think she was protected from all STDs. Hopefully I will have done my job as a parent, and she will be able to make the appropriate decisions, but what about all the girls who have not had the proper guidance, upbringing or just make bad decisions?
What if we could give the shot but not tell them what they were being immunized for? Probably not the right way to go about it either.
And from the health standpoint, part of me says, if we can prevent the contraction of HPV and spare the risk of cervical cancer, then yes, we should vaccinate. But shouldn’t that be our decision as parents and as women? Is it right for a bunch of middle aged (mostly male) politicians to think for us?
So now it is your turn! Please give me your thoughts on this issue. Is it an ethical issue or a health issue? Does the government need to mandate this? Oh, and don’t forget to vote in the poll!!
64 opinions for Should We Immunize Teen Girls Against HPV?
Gayla
Feb 22, 2007 at 3:18 pm
Over a year ago I wrote on this exact topic incognito. The way I view this is - giving a girl the vaccination for HPV is like giving them a tetanus shot. Just because they are protected doesn’t mean they are going to run out and play with rusty nails.
It’s better safe then sorry.
Having worked as an STD patient advocate for nearly 10 years now, I can tell you a diagnosis of HPV or any other incurable STD is devastating and I’d much rather provide the protection that’s offered and worry about the moral stuff in addition to, not instead of.
char
Feb 22, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Gayla - thank you for your insight. It makes perfect sense. Do you think it should be required for entrance into middle school?
Mike
Feb 22, 2007 at 3:32 pm
This is an interesting one. Stuff like making the chicken pox vaccine mandatory is controversial enough. But, the HPV one is way tougher to swallow. What if we find out their are negative effects some years down the road…we will have legislated something that is harmful to only one gender.
Tough issue. I’m not sure how I feel about it, but in general I think the fewer shots the better these days.
Kim
Feb 22, 2007 at 3:40 pm
I’m with Gayla and Char…and I also believe, that kids won’t necessarily use this as the green light to go do whatever they want…
I wonder where this vaccine was in my mom’s day?
Gayla
Feb 22, 2007 at 3:42 pm
I think it should be required for entrance into middle school.
Mike points out that we ‘may be’ legislating something harmful to one gender. Being a patient advocate for people living with STD’s, if we don’t it’s harmful to one gender.
The fact is, the types of HPV that cause cervical cancer cannot be tested for until it’s too late. They are detected by precancerous cells showing up on a woman’s pap. There are NO tests whatsoever to test men for these strains of the virus.
The only hope we have of minimizing this risk is to go with the vaccine that’s available.
Not only am I an advocate, but I live with an incurable STD too. And believe me, had there been something available that might have prevented me from having to go through what I’ve been through, I’d have hated my parents if they didn’t make the choice to protect me.
char
Feb 22, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Mike - don’t even get me started on the Chicken Pox vaccine! All three of my kids got the vaccine, just like the whole school did, and all three of my kids got Chicken Pox - and so did about 1/3 of the school over a 2 month period.
While Gayla’s argument makes complete sense to me, there is part of me that still struggles with it. I think what I am hung up on is the mandate part.
char
Feb 22, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Another question Gayla - how do you present this to your child. Do you say, you have shots you must receive in order to go to Middle School and leave it at that - chances are they don’t have a clue as to what HPV stands for at 11.
Or do you tell your daughter that one of the shots she is getting will prevent her from getting a type of cancer in the future and leave the whole STD part out?
Or do you give her the full run down on the vaccine, why she is getting it, and what it is preventing - the risk of the cancer and the HPV itself?
Gayla
Feb 22, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Both of my children have been vaccinated for chicken pox. Understanding vaccines the way they were explained to me, I fully understand that my kids MAY get chicken pox, but the case will be mild in comparison to what it “could be” if they hadn’t had the vaccination.
Also, in the long term it could very well protect them from a painful experience with shingles.
Char, you’ve obviously hit on a topic I’m VERY passionate about. To see firsthand what STD’s can do to people, it makes you want to stand on the side of any prevention or treatment that helps.
char
Feb 22, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Gayla,
I appreciate your comments on this topic. You have unique knowledge and insight that I don’t. You have much more to share on this topic and we can all learn from it.
Gayla
Feb 22, 2007 at 4:00 pm
I treat it like I do other vaccinations. The only one my kids have ever asked about really is the tetanus. The MMR means nothing to them. Just that there was once a virus that killed many people and this is a vaccination to help prevent it from harming more.
My husband and I just learned today that we will be taking full custody of his children this weekend. His daughter is 14. You can bet your last dollar that we will be getting her vaccinated for HPV.
Will I go and tell her she’s been protected against a ’sexually transmitted disease’? NO! I want her to never underestimate sexually transmitted viruses.
I want all my children to realize just how easily an STD can happen to them and to view one to be just life altering as the others.
When it comes to incurable STD’s, I don’t think there is such a thing as a good virus and a bad virus - each one can be just as life altering as the other.
Gayla
Feb 22, 2007 at 4:03 pm
One more thing… I see that most are stating it should be up to the parent, however, I have to disagree with that.
Look around your school! How many parents are “really there” for their kids? How many do you think will actually take the time to get their daughters vaccinated if it’s not mandatory?
Now tell me, do you want your son dating those girls and potentially becoming a loaded weapon packing a deadly strain of HPV?
I don’t!
Karen
Feb 22, 2007 at 4:24 pm
This one really gets my blood boiling. How can they possibly require you to get this vaccine? We don’t even know if it’s safe and it certainly is my decision about whether or not I want my child to get one.
Karen
Feb 22, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Gayla: If we start making the HPV vaccine mandatory then are we going to make an HIV test mandatory too?
Gayla
Feb 22, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Absolutely!
How I got started in this whole STD Patient Advocacy thing is because of the lack of *proper* testing.
Did you know that when a person asks for a full STD screen it does NOT include herpes, HPV or HIV?
Do you know how many people are walking out of clinics every single day thinking they have a clean bill of health and they don’t?
The two most life altering and the one most life threatening of all STD’s is not a part of standard testing! And that’s in the world we’re sending our kids into.
From where I am, on this side of the STD fence, you BET’cha I want testing and vaccinations whenever and wherever possible.
Kristen King
Feb 22, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Moral issues aside, at this point, mandating a vaccine this new is medically and socially irresponsible. Certainly its potential protective benefits are wonderful, but its potential damages are unknown, and it’s an understatement to say that a government mandate is premature. Having the option is fantastic–but so is having the choice both as a parent and as a woman.
Perhaps more effective would be better education that comes from the parents and the media as well as the schools. If there were as many safe-sex ads and commercials with information about STDs over the last few years as there have been ads for Gardasil over the last few months…
What really needs to be mandated immediately in all 50 states is a full STD screen that actually is. Gayla, that’s an absolute travesty. I had no idea. Good for you for spreading the message and advocating for patients, and teaching them to advocate for themselves.
kk
Gayla
Feb 22, 2007 at 6:06 pm
After jumping in on this thread earlier. I spoke to my husband about this topic. He had a brilliant idea (though rare, they do happen once in a while :D )
He thought perhaps making a “class” mandatory - a class that all parents and their teen daughters must attend detailing the vaccination, STD’s, proper testing, etc. At the end of the class they’d be handed a form to sign stating they’d attended the class and would commit to the vaccination or refuse.
But at the very least - it would increase awareness and place the parent AND the child in the position of having to make this decision together.
Having just come through a situation today that shined a not so favorable light on one mother, I suppose my responses here were a bit too emotional. KK is right though, somethings got to be done about testing at the very least.
Sarah Collins Honenberger
Feb 22, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Dear Parents and friends: The vaccine controversy is older and more significant than the latest outrage by Merck trying to link a non-contagious disease to school attendance. For parents who have to make those vaccination decisions, there is lots to learn. My novel is based on a true story and will make you stop and consider before you willy nilly vaccinate for every possibility. Did you know that there are medical studies that show that babies are born with a certain number of auto-immune cells and if you clunk them up with too many vaccinations, there are fewer left to be available to fight when the child is exposed to other diseases. Parents must learn how to ask the right questions to get the full answers from medical personnel.
Kristen King
Feb 22, 2007 at 7:34 pm
That’s a great idea, Gayla’s husband, but the really big shame here is that parents won’t go. It’ll be the topic of the moment for a PTA meeting or two, and then they’ll just go along with it because they think the government/pharmaceutical companies/whoever must be right because they know way more about this than lil ol’ me. You know what I mean? Or they just won’t care enough. That’s the thing that gets me. As Sarah said, they need to learn how to ask the right questions–but first, they need to want to ask them.
Thoughts?
kk
char
Feb 22, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Sarah, Kristen & Karen - thanks for stopping in and sharing your views! The more discussion at this point the better.
New mommie
Feb 23, 2007 at 6:05 am
I am a high school teacher. Every year I see one-five ninth graders come in and they already have a baby that was born in middle school. So we know that they are having sex. NOT THAT THAT IS RIGHT.
I personally had cervical pre-cancer cells associated with HPV , when I found out years later that it was associated with an STD I was really upset. The scary thing is that the two partners that I had sex with and I had been STD tested before we ever did anything.
They had to cut out a chunk of my cervix in order to keep the bad cells from taking over. It took me years to conceive my 1st child with my husband as a result. They even told us that we were going to have to undergo fertility treatments…God work s miracles and we were very blessed.
In a nutshell, what I want to say is that based on my experience, if the heartache that I went through can be avoided then let the government mandate this. 6th grade may seem young but really if the kids are 12 they may not understand the implications of the shot as much as a college freshman. I would venture to say that this is the best time to get the shot because they don’t get that. I would say mandate the shot at the earliest time that the body can take the shot and then it becomes more like the MMR shot.
Don’t tell your kid that it prevents cancer because then they may associate it with ALL cancers. Of course there are studies that are showing that more and more cancers could actually be a virus…maybe one day we will have a cure for all cancers.
Kellys
Feb 23, 2007 at 2:13 pm
My first response was that I didn’t want my little girl to have it and I wanted every young man know it. That way, they would know that my daughter was off limits since she wasn’t “safe”.
On the flip side … how would we feel if our kids were definant and sexually active behind our backs, we didn’t give them the vaccine and then they wound up with cancer?
Having watched my mom go through this type of cancer, I would never want my daughter to go through it as well. So I am torn. I feel strongly that it shouldn’t be mandated by the government but it should be offered.
Angela
Feb 24, 2007 at 10:48 am
We are talking about saving lives. The HPV vaccine prevents two types of the virus that cause cervical cancer and two more types that happen to cause genital warts. I can’t believe people are hesitating? And yes, I do believe it should be required just like any other vaccine that kids are supposed to have before going to school at whatever age it needs to be done. Come on.. cancer vs. no cancer.. don’t you want our daughters to have a much better chance of survival than those that are dead ever had? Vaccines go through serious tests and trials over time to ensure the safety to patients. It would not have been approved if there were serous questions that could pop up later on down the road. This has NOTHING to do with encouraging kids to have sex. I’m so shocked that parents would be hung up over THAT. For the record.. HIV testing should be mandatory. Proper STD testing should be mandatory too!! I can’t believe all the negativity that comes up when people use the words “sexually transmitted.” Here we are talking about saving lives and because of the fact that HPV is considered an STD you are get pissy? I can NOT believe this!? I can’t believe anybody would rather their daughters contract a virus that can cause cancer over preventing such a thing.. Please don’t get me going on STD’s - I am so shocked and dissapointed in some of you.
Kristen King
Feb 24, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Angela, with all due respect, I think that was inappropriately harsh. Just because something is approved doesn’t mean it’s safe, and I don’t think anyone here is saying, “Hey, I WANT my kid to get cervical cancer!” Look at thalidomide. No, it’s not a vaccine, but it was prescribed for pregnancy associated nausea and sleeplessness in the ’50s and ’60s, and it caused major birth defects, particularly children being born with severely deformed or missing limbs.
Nobody is saying that the ability to vaccinate against a cancer-causing virus is a bad thing. The point is that Gardasil hasn’t been around long enough to determine its long-term safety and side effects, so the fact that it’s being mandated is, frankly, terrifying. Moral issues aside, safety is a huge concern here, and I don’t believe it’s been sufficiently addressed.
Having the option is fantastic. Making it mandatory is positively NOT, not at this stage of the game.
Kristen King
Feb 26, 2007 at 6:21 am
Someone, come over here and get my back, yo. ;]
http://herpes-help.blogspot.com/2007/02/yes-we-should-immunize-teen-girls.html
Karen
Feb 26, 2007 at 7:00 am
Kristen: Sorry, I’ve been out of town this weekend and also working on a blog carnival. I’ve been meaning to drop back by here.
This is a huge difference between a chicken pox and HPV vaccine. You can catch chicken pox or polio. You don’t choose either one. HPV and AIDS comes from choice. Just because a vaccine is approved doesn’t mean it’s safe.
Gayla
Feb 26, 2007 at 7:05 am
Kristen ~ Angela is a good friend of mine and has been for several years. I can see how some things she types can be taken in a way that I personally know she did not intend.
Angela and I have seen and known people who have died from STD’s and we have heard of people taking their own lives because of such a diagnosis. She and I both (along with several other advocates) deal with these issues daily.
We’ve read everything that’s been published on these studies. It’s not just something that’s been thrown out there in the last year or two. It’s been a promise that many of us living with an STD have held on to for YEARS.
It seems so new because it’s just making its way into the news and with an election year coming up, it makes for a great political platform, don’cha think?
A few years back I had the opportunity to correspond with a 15 year old girl who had been diagnosed with HPV. Because of this diagnosis, her mother would go behind her bleaching everything she touched. She was forced to eat and drink from disposable cups and plates. She was not allowed to use any family towels even after they were washed. And why? Because she was guilty of an act of human nature? She had SEX!
Many teens and 12-year-olds are having sex. Parents can deny it as much as they want, but honor students and good girls have sex too!
A very close friend of mine works in our states largest STD clinic. Just last summer she told me of all the teens and pre-teens that come there (it’s a free clinic). When she asked a 14 year old boy who had syphilis how many sex partners he had had, he asked her “in the last week or EVER?” When he started with just the week prior it was 15!!!!
Apparently the kids are playing spin the bottle but instead of kissing they are having sex.
When you live inside the STD world, it’s a completely different ballgame. Just keep that in mind and realize that Angela’s words are coming from inside the world and not out of anger or spite :)
She’s one of the best and dearest friends I have and whenever I have a challenge or personal battle on my hands, she’s the friend I turn to. :)
Kristen King
Feb 26, 2007 at 7:18 am
Gayla, I’m sure you and Angela are both just lovely, and I have no reason to think otherwise, but I still disagree with the fundamental concept that this vaccine be mandated at this point in time. And the fact that it is an election year and this is going to garner a lot of publicity and support for the politicians supporting its mandate makes me even more concerned that the requirement is being rushed for political reasons, not for reasons of publical health and safety.
I can’t pretend to know what it’s like to live with an STD (or to have such ignorant parents as the poor child you described). I honestly hope I never have to find out. But the fact remains that making the vaccine a requirement at this early stage in the game is extremely disquieting, and for me, it doesn’t have one iota to do with whether kids or having sex and how I feel about that fact. (For the record, however, I know they’re doing it and I find it extremely upsetting, but that’s probably another conversation entirely.) I doubt any teen girl is going to hear about Gardasil and be all, “Hey, that fear of HPV was the only thing holding me back! Let’s get it on!” That’s just dumb.
Yes, this may very well save lives in kids who are already sexually active and those who plan to become sexually active in the near future, but I still don’t think it should be compulsory. Make it readily available like the flu shot, but don’t require people to get it. In 20 years, maybe I’ll change my mind, but for now, I’m standing firm.
In the meantime, how about mandating a large-scale educational effort targeted toward young kids, teaching them about the physical and psychological consequences of sex (both positive and negative) and working on developing self-respect, self-esteem, and self-control? As street smart as kids think they are these days, it’s hard for me to believe that there’s a time they they ever knew LESS than they do now. It’s frightening.
Gayla
Feb 26, 2007 at 7:32 am
I couldn’t agree more! Something - ANYTHING - whether it’s the vaccination or FORCING parents to participate in a class WITH their teens and signing a form that they have made the conscious decision to either get the vaccination or not would be a great place to start.
And some may say there are parents that won’t go, but if they were to be breaking a law if they didn’t it might make a few think twice.
Heck, I’m just happy as pie that people without an STD are finally talking about it!
And I do have to say that living with an STD isn’t all that bad really. Therein again, it’s all about education and awareness. I know many people who are living happy healthy lives with non-infected partners and they’re not wearing body bags as protection :D
Kristen King
Feb 26, 2007 at 8:05 am
My husband’s uncle contracted HIV from a blood transfusion many years ago, and he and his noninfected wife are happy as pie. Granted, he didn’t get it from a sexual encounter, but she could! I’ve met many people with STDs over the years (I’ve done a lot of volunteer work in my day and am always interested in learning and educating about health issues) and have been blown away almost across the board by how positive their respective outlooks are. It’s not a death sentence — but it’s all about how you choose to look at it, as for so many other things in life. But I’m still glad I haven’t had to deal with that or any other chronic health issue more serious than some IBS and depression.
Angela
Feb 26, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Hi Kristen ~
You don’t need anybody to come on over and get your back, yo. You seem to be doing just fine all by yourself. ;)
Hi Karen ~
You really believe that HPV and AIDS come from people choosing to contract those STD’s? I suppose you would also say that STD’s come from personal choice too. That sentiment actually is sad, pathetic and horribly ignorant of you. It’s no wonder there is so much misinformation and negative stigma associated with STD’s. I can honestly say that I am not surprised OR shocked. I’ve been an online patient advocate for 10 years now and these sentiments don’t seem to be going away. What has changed over the years is the willingness of people to know that life is too short to surround yourself with this type of negative thinking.
And just to add a little icing to this little conversation about STD’s and vaccines – did you know that not all STD’s are included in the routine STD testing process? 90% of those that have genital herpes don’t know that they have it because they don’t get signs or symptoms and then when they go in to get tested – assume they have been tested for it when they have not. Go figure!? 70% of those that contracted genital herpes did so from a partner that had it and didn’t know it. In other words, you can contract these things without actually putting your finger on them. You can’t see them – they are just there.
As I stated over on my herpes blog – Wild horses can’t keep me from making sure that my kids are vaccinated. I hope it’s included in the routine vaccine processes that all kids go through in order to be able to attend school. I can see why they are wanting to mandate this because there are so many people that have the privilege of being blessed with children but they don’t want to pay attention to their kids, be interested in what’s going on with their school work, take them into the doctor when they are sick – I’m not saying that you all fit into this category but I am saying that there are so many people out there that are not taking care of their kids OR being very good parents. Who is going to stand up for those children if their own parents don’t even care about them?
I think I’ve probably had enough of this discussion. Thanks for writing about this Char. Writing about controversial subjects are a must no matter how many sides come to the table. If nobody wrote about these things or had an opinion we would be in some serious trouble. We have to be willing to step out of our comfort zone in order to do some good in this world.
Gayla
Feb 26, 2007 at 4:46 pm
At first I didn’t think much about the “HIV and HPV comes from choice” comment, but now that I’ve read other comments here, I see that it is a very misinformed statement.
I contracted an STD from my ex husband whom I had twin boys with. I was a stay at home mom and took a great deal of pride in my family.
I have to wonder where the decision to contract an STD came in that picture.
That statement hurts a LOT! And for a person who is very comfortable in my STD skin, I can only imagine what damage it could do to someone who isn’t.
I believe I’m better leaving this discussion at this time. Emotions are flaring way too high.
Karen
Feb 26, 2007 at 4:49 pm
When I said that HIV and HPV comes from choice, I mean the choice of having sex. You can get chicken pox and polio without doing anything. I’m sorry you caught an STD from your husband. That must hurt pretty bad. Unfortunately, it was his bad choice that has caused you pain.
Karen
Feb 26, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Angela: Have we really come to the point of calling people ignorant?
Kristen King
Feb 26, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Before we all get our feathers ruffled, just a reminder that saying that someone is ignorant is saying that they’re not knowledgeable on a topic. I am ignorant of French colloquialisms, for instance. It’s not “moronic.” It’s “uninformed.”
kk
Lively Women » The Vaccination Controversy Continues
Feb 26, 2007 at 7:02 pm
[…] I had no idea I was so controversial, but wow! Over at Weary Parent, we’ve been having an ongoing debate about whether the fast-spreading state mandates for the recently approved HPV vaccine Gardasil is a good idea. Responses have ranged from unmitigated support to moral outrage. Apparently I’m somewhere in the middle, which, it seems, is just as controversial as either of the extremes. […]
Gayla
Feb 27, 2007 at 4:50 am
One question to ponder then I’ll put a complete end to my “negotiating” a topic that I feel SO strongly about…
IF this were a vaccine for breast cancer would the responses be the same?
You don’t have to answer, just think about how you would feel and react.
Kristen King
Feb 27, 2007 at 5:04 am
Gayla, you’re awesome. I know you said no one has to answer, but I’d like to. For me, this isn’t a moral issue — it’s a medical one. If it were a breast cancer vaccine and it were being mandated in the same way that the HPV vaccine is, I truly believe my objections would be the same. In the big picture, though, I think that would change a lot of reactions.
Gayla
Feb 27, 2007 at 5:51 am
Char ~ I know I said that I was ending my comments, but I just have to say that because of this very post the senior producer for medical news of a MAJOR network has contacted Angela! I just got off the phone with her and she is preparing to return their phone call. Will let you know how the interview goes hopefully she can get a plug in for your and her both.
I’m really excited for the two of you. Yeah!!!!
char
Feb 27, 2007 at 6:11 am
Gayla - that is very exciting. Keep me posted.
Kristen - I am with you. If it were a vaccine for breast cancer or any cancer for that matter, I would be thrilled to have the OPTION to get the vaccine, but I do not think I would want the government MANDATING the vaccine.
Angela and everyone - I am grateful for your participation. You have given me more tools and information to make a more informed decision. When the time comes, I will most likely have my child immunized, but I would rather it be an option rather than a requirement. Luckily, I still have a few years to research and solidify my decision.
Parenting Teens » Blog Archive » HPV Vaccine
Feb 28, 2007 at 7:49 am
[…] *Char at Weary Parent *Gayla at Gayla’s Place *Sarah Collins Honenberger at Read White Lies *Angela at Herpes Simplex Help […]
deidre
Mar 5, 2007 at 12:20 pm
in one post (either here or the other site) someone said that when you get any prescription you always get a list of side effects. that is true and it actually has made me decide not to take the meds…but with this new vaccine they cant know all of the side effects yet. i agree that it is a very good thing to prevent a killer disease. i will talk to my daughter (15 yo)about it and we together will decide what to do. but i cant help but wonder what will happen in years when/if they find out it hurts your reproductive system, or causes birth defects. i need to read more about the trials that were done, and then my daughter and i will make a informed (as much as possible) decision about what to do. i have to say-if it is mandatory in my state (NC) i wont be able to afford it anyway. not right now anyway. which makes me wonder-if it becomes mandatory will the government pay for it. i understand it is very expensive. and please no one start on how much cheaper it is than having cervical cancer. i understand that. my point is i dont have a few hundred dollars to spend on anything at this time. also i have to say, i would never think that having my daughter vaccinated with this would be a green light for her to have sex all the time. im not so stupid that i think she wont…i remember being a teenager. and i have a hard time really beleiving that any parent would think something like this would be a decisive factor for a teen to decide to have or not have sex.
Karen
Mar 5, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Deidre: You’re right. This vaccine is expensive. My aunt was going to have her girls vaccinated and now she’s not sure b/c the insurance companies won’t pay for it. She thinks that the reason they are trying to get this mandated is so that the insurance companies have to pay for it. She talked to her daughter’s doctor and he didn’t say one way or another as to whether she should get the vaccine.
deidre
Mar 6, 2007 at 10:57 am
is it legal to copy and paste a post from another blog to this one? i read a post by an obgyn that was very interesting.
Karen
Mar 6, 2007 at 11:39 am
Deidre: I’m not sure if it’s legal to copy and paste the whole thing, but you can paste little bits or you could just paste the link here.
char
Mar 6, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Deidre - as long as you provide a link back to the source you are fine. The more information we have to work with, the better.
Angela
Mar 7, 2007 at 8:19 am
I totally agree w/Char here ~ give credit where it’s due and you should not have a problem with it at all. You might even mention just for added CYA that you are only presenting this for educational and personal use. But always give credit as to where you found it.
Betsy Thiede
Mar 9, 2007 at 10:12 am
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/february2007/060207nolaw.htm
Karen
Mar 9, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Wow Betsy. Thanks for the article!!!!
Joyce
Mar 9, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Funny how when Merck exerts a really effective lobbying campaign, along with their front group “Women in Government” which Merck funds, everyone pulls out all stops to spend about $1 Billion on this fairly new vaccine, to be used on girls, NOT BOYS!
Yes, we women are so good about obediently submitting ours and our daughters’ bodies to be used as guinea pigs when authorities tell us that its good for us.
But where’s the dollars for AIDS medications for those who can’t afford them?
Where’s the dollars for the 1 out of 5 in North Carolina who don’t have medical coverage?
Where’s the dollars for pap smears, or for sex education?
Where IS the sex education?
I see people post that they would give this vaccine to their daughter but NOT tell them what its for, or why their mothers think it is needed.
Now that makes no sense at all to me - you mean folks are willing to experiment on their daughters bodies with a vaccine for a cancer that is only a little more likely to strike them than does lightning?
But not tell the 9-11 year old girls why they are getting this vaccine?
If this is a matter of life and death as some claim, then how could you NOT tell your daughters about the threats to their life?
Do you think that Gardasil prevents all causes of “cervical cancers” or that there are no other life threatening viruses that your daughters can get from having sex?
IF you believe your daughter is at risk from a sexually transmitted disease, why haven’t you provided sex education and explained the different diseases as well?
How can anyone trust Merck or the FDA after the “fast tracking” of Merck’s other disasters like Vioxx?
Then there is the cost of this unproven and expensive vaccine:
I live in North Carolina, where 770,000 children are on medicaid, and they could get this vaccine.
At what cost?
At a cost of $20 - $70 Million to the overstrained medicaid budget.
For an estimated 70-80 cervical cancer diagnosis statewide?
There are needy folks who can’t get medicaid because there aren’t enough dollars to go around now!
Frankly, the verdicts still out on the safety and effectiveness of this vaccine.
IT is crystal clear that highly unethical lobbying measures have used to “guilt” parents and lawmakers into being rushed into supporting this vaccine.
Merck needs the vaccine to be mandated, so that Merck will not be liable financially or criminally for any damages caused by this vaccine.
Merck learned their lesson well with the recent Vioxx disaster - they are hedging their bets.
And we won’t know the long range side effects of this vaccine for a long time, especially since PHARMA funds the FDA with its fees.
Betsy Thiede
Mar 10, 2007 at 4:24 am
Very frightening. The sad thing is that all of my life I trusted Merck. My father was a sales rep for them. They supported my family.
Now as an adult, I am so afraid of all pharmacuetical companies. It seems to be all about money. Nothing about for the good of humanity.
My daughter is on the autistic spectrum and though high functioning, I believe she has been affected by vaccines, and chemicals dumped in our environment.
I am certainly going to look at this new vaccine with a lot of skeptism before I allow my daughter to have it. She is 8.
Ignorance is bliss. To trust in the government and pharmacuetical companies is such a luxury that I don’t have. I wish I did. It would make my life easier and shut down so many fears. Whether they be rational or not.
Betsy Thiede
Mar 10, 2007 at 4:38 am
http://womenshealthnews.blogspot.com/2007/02/hpv-vaccine-concerns.html
Betsy Thiede
Mar 10, 2007 at 4:47 am
http://www.prolifeblogs.com/articles/archives/2007/02/mandate_male_ci.php
Betsy Thiede
Mar 10, 2007 at 4:49 am
http://www.prolifeblogs.com/articles/archives/2007/02/gardasil_is_not.php
Betsy Thiede
Mar 10, 2007 at 4:55 am
excerpts from
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54102
“We’re moving toward mandating every new vaccine on the market. But our children have too many shots now. Every new one further burdens their immune systems. We simply don’t know the effect of that.
“Not long ago, an anti-diarrhea vaccine was approved and touted and used, until it killed and injured so many babies that it was withdrawn. Oops!
“Every ”oops” is someone’s life – but the company has lots of expensive lawyers plus government protection for mandated vaccines. How nice for them.
“Mixing medicine and politics is bad medicine. Just wait until they develop an AIDS vaccine. Any bets on how long it will take them to require everyone to have it?” she wrote.
char
Mar 10, 2007 at 7:10 am
Betsy and Joyce - Thank you for stopping in and sharing your insight. I know I’ve said it before, but the more information we have, the better decisions we can make for our families.
Karen
Mar 10, 2007 at 7:43 am
A few years ago I got an article on vaccines and autism. I’ve been a bit leary of vaccines since then. My son just had a check-up and the nurse walked in with all these shots and as she’s going to administer them, she tells me that there is a new one in the bunch. I knew he would be getting vaccines, but I wasn’t told of the new one. Everything happened so quickly and I left there feeling taken advantage of. You live and you learn. Next time I will be sure to pester them with questions before hand.
Sarah Collins Honenberger
Mar 11, 2007 at 12:18 pm
After all these comments, no one’s mentioned the adverse effects of medication approved by FDA and on ly discovered after the public is in danger and suffering from those adverse effects. Would you inject anything in a child when the medicine has only been in existence for 6 years and only approved for months and only tested on 1200 girls, none of whom are old enough to contract cervical cancer and barely old enough to suffer from a sexually transmitted disease. Why aren’t they vaccinating boys for this sexually transmitted disease? Parents should be questioning the heavy-handed lobbying efforts of a company that makes the vaccine and makes huge profits from that vaccination. No one’s mentioned the cost is in the hundreds. Who’s paying for the girls who don’t have health insurance to be vaccinated? The taxpayers. The scandal of the DPT shot, the first vaccine mandated for American childred, is jst now being publicized. It’s still the subject of so much misinformation from doctors who know better. The Doctor quoted by ABC on 2020 said the safe DPT shot was approved in 1992, forgot to mention it wasn’t mandated by government until 1998. Surprised? Parents need to educate themselves before they accept hook, line and sinker, what the drug companies are telling them. Read White Lies: A Tale of Babies, Vaccines and Deception if you want the hard truth. Kristin King knows whereof she speaks.
Angela
Mar 12, 2007 at 6:47 am
I am NOT into conspiracy theories. For the record, HPV is not easily detected in boys. That is something that the scientists are still working on. It seems to me that many of you would think that just about anything a drug company can research would be a “hook line & sinker.” It’s always going to be a catch 22. In other words, it’s not always good enough for certain people. Some bitch that scientists aren’t doing enough and then when they do come up with something that is significant it’s not good enough. Also, when you pick up medications from the pharmacy there is always going to be a list of POSSIBLE side effects ~ it doesn’t mean you will experience those side effects. That is why people are supposed to contact their doctor if and when they do experience something new OR different when taking a medication. Also, vaccines are NOT the same as medications. I’m about done with this thread ~~~ I think if somebody wants to keep their daughters from having the cervical cancer vaccine then GO FOR IT. If somebody wants to make sure that their daughters have a better chance of NOT getting the virus that can cause cervical cancer then GO FOR IT.
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I am getting the shot and I personally think it’s a good idea…
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http://www.infowars.com/articles/science/vaccines_hpv_vaccination_reaction_images.htm
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http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21774785-5003402,00.html
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