Should Government be the Primary Medical Decision Maker for American Children?

Question

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070202/ap_on_he_me/cervical_cancer_2

AUSTIN, Texas - Bypassing the Legislature, Republican Gov. Rick Perry signed an order Friday making Texas the first state to require girls entering the sixth grade to get Gardasil, Merck & Co.'s new vaccine against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.

Merck is bankrolling efforts to pass state laws across the country mandating Gardasil for girls as young as 11 or 12. The federal government approved Gardasil in June, and a government advisory panel has recommended that all American girls get the shots before they are likely to be sexually active.

Question: Why not (at most) a government sponsored campaign asking parents to innoculate their children if this is such a problem? Why a law requiring the shot? What are your thoughts?

Answer 1

This should definitely NOT be up to the government. How long before other states sign on to this too? This is really disgraceful. How long have they tested this new vaccine? Will we find out someday that by government ASSUMING our girls will be promiscuous and requiring innoculation to "protect" them from themselves, that they will end up with more health problems than they would have had if they had NOT been forced to receive the innoculation? Your suggestion about a campaign making parents AWARE that there is a CHOICE that is available is how this should be handled, Government is getting WAY too involved in our lives.

Answer 2

I believe that in fact there are factions within the public school system that work to do exactly that. I don't think that the "Government" per se is doing this. My daughter, a straight A student, was up for being held back in first grade. Apparently she's too much younger than her peers . . . I think this is a subversive attempt for more money. When they get into the higher grades, the classroom has to run at the pace of the slowest learner. Because separating children by "intelligence" would offend some of the others. Furthermore, our children are being given a "young and okay to be stupid" tag. Or worse yet, is the complete indoctrination into a-moral behavior. The most insidious of the lot is the striping of individual thought. Expressing a thought outside of "PC" will bring ridicule and in many cases some form of punishment. These links are must reads:

Answer 3

No! The choice to vaccinate their daughters should be solely made by the parents/guardians of the girls.
I think this is the pharmaceutical companies getting in good with the Texas governor and making a mint in the process.

Answer 4

I think this is a good idea and this is why..... These days, girls are starting to have sex before they even start their period. HPV is not detectable in men. Therefore, they can not let their "partner" know about it because they do not even know about it.
There are 2 types of HPV. One type gives you warts on your private (This is usually how men tell they have it)
And the other can cause cervix cancer. My best friend has HPV and had it for 4 years before she found out. By the time she found out there are no telling how many guys contracted it from her and passed it on and on and on again to other girls.

Also, these girls that are sexually active teens when they get pregnant genital warts cause a number of problems during pregnancy. Sometimes they get larger during pregnancy, making it difficult to urinate and could cause you to lose your child also infants born to women with genital warts can develop warts in their throats (respiratory papillomatosis). This is a life-threatening condition for a child, requiring frequent laser surgery to prevent obstruction of the breathing passages.


And please do not say that HPV never killed anyone:

"About 3,670 women will die from cervical cancer in the United States during 2007. Cervical cancer was once one of the most common causes of cancer death for American women."

"80% of sexually active adults will acquire genital human papillomavirus (HPV) by age 50

"HPV doesn't always have symptoms"



Do some research yourself and you might change your mind!!

Answer 5

Cervical cancer is not a communicable disease, except through hereditary lines, maybe. We have already experienced how well the government controls have worked in in stopping the spread of disease. The small pox should be an indicator. Now they claim there is a resurgence of stronger variations. Cervical Cancer will take the same route, most likely mutate to a stronger variation.
My question is, how many times does a guy have to hit his thumb with a hammer before he learns to swing the hammer?

Answer 6

The government needs to ask. This is a blatant breaking of the Constitution. Although I am not surprised; after all folks we are a "democracy", didn't you know that?

I say parents take the government to court and sue. Would end this quickly.

Answer 7

No, the whole idea is outrageous. This disease is neither infectious nor epidemic. The vaccine protects against HPV, not cervical cancer. Nobody dies from HPV, and even cervical cancer is generally treatable. Get your annual pap smear and don't engage in unprotected sex without testing your partner for HPV and you should be fine. There is no clinical evidence whatsoever that GARDASIL will protect you from cervical cancer any more than that.

The Facts About GARDASIL

1) GARDASIL is a vaccine for 4 strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), two strains that are strongly associated (and probably cause) genital warts and two strains that are typically associated (and may cause) cervical cancer. About 90% of people with genital warts show exposure to one of the two HPV strains strongly suspected to cause genital warts. About 70% of women with cervical cancer show exposure to one of the other two HPV strains that the vaccine is designed to confer resistance to.

2) HPV is a sexually communicable (not an infectious) virus. When you consider all strains of HPV, over 70% of sexually active males and females have been exposed. A condom helps a lot (70% less likely to get it), but has not been shown to stop transmission in all cases (only one study of 82 college girls who self-reported about condom use has been done). For the vast majority of women, exposure to HPV strains (even the four “bad ones” protected for in GARDASIL) results in no known health complications of any kind.

3) Cervical cancer is not a deadly nor prevalent cancer in the US or any other first world nation. Cervical cancer rates have declined sharply over the last 30 years and are still declining. Cervical cancer accounts for less than 1% of of all female cancer cases and deaths in the US. Cervical cancer is typically very treatable and the prognosis for a healthy outcome is good. The typical exceptions to this case are old women, women who are already unhealthy and women who don’t get pap smears until after the cancer has existed for many years.

4) Merck’s clinical studies for GARDASIL were problematic in several ways. Only 20,541 women were used (half got the “placebo”) and their health was followed up for only four years at maximum and typically 1-3 years only. More critically, only 1,121 of these subjects were less than 16. The younger subjects were only followed up for a maximum of 18 months. Furthermore, less than 10% of these subjects received true placebo injections. The others were given injections containing an aluminum salt adjuvant (vaccine enhancer) that is also a component of GARDASIL. This is scientifically preposterous, especially when you consider that similar alum adjuvants are suspected to be responsible for Gulf War disease and other possible vaccination related complications.

5) Both the “placebo” groups and the vaccination groups reported a myriad of short term and medium term health problems over the course of their evaluations. The majority of both groups reported minor health complications near the injection site or near the time of the injection. Among the vaccination group, reports of such complications were slightly higher. The small sample that was given a real placebo reported far fewer complications — as in less than half. Furthermore, most if not all longer term complications were written off as not being potentially vaccine caused for all subjects.

6) Because the pool of test subjects was so small and the rates of cervical cancer are so low, NOT A SINGLE CONTROL SUBJECT ACTUALLY CONTRACTED CERVICAL CANCER IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM — MUCH LESS DIED OF IT. Instead, this vaccine’s supposed efficacy is based on the fact that the vaccinated group ended up with far fewer cases (5 vs. about 200) of genital warts and “precancerous lesions” (dysplasias) than the alum injected “control” subjects.

7) Because the tests included just four years of follow up at most, the long term effects and efficacy of this vaccine are completely unknown for anyone. All but the shortest term effects are completely unknown for little girls. Considering the tiny size of youngster study, the data about the shortest terms side effects for girls are also dubious.

8) GARDASIL is the most expensive vaccine ever marketed. It requires three vaccinations at $120 a pop for a total price tag of $360. It is expected to be Merck’s biggest cash cow of this and the next decade.

These are simply the facts of the situation as presented by Merck and the FDA.

Answer 8

I think it is wrong to try to save people from themselves, a media campaign is what is needed not an enforced venue. It would be better if all young girls get this shot but that should be up to each family to decide.

Answer 9

Alot of parents wouldnt have the shot given. I think its a good shot to get, not sure if its right to make it law.

I think more parents need to know what their kids are doing. If they were not given the chance to have sex they wouldnt. I have a 15 yr old boy. If he is not at shool I know where he is at all times.

Answer 10

No. While I "personally" think it is a good idea. A new vaccine can have unforeseen side effects.

Will the state government take responsibility for and and all consequences of their actions? Somehow I don't think so.