The facts about HPV Vaccines

It was sad to hear of Patrick Swayze's passing yesterday. Sad for many reasons not the least of which is he was a genuinely nice person. (Who can forget the "penny scene" in Ghost?) But, it was sad because it exposes how little has really been done to cure cancer after the billions of dollars that have been sunk into so-called research.

I predict (I love this part) that they never will cure cancer! Duh.

One of the difficulties I have with drug companies is the aggressive manner in which they market their products. They themselves will admit that all their products will do is limit or control symptoms. They will not cure anything.

That should come as no surprise. They are after all selling a product and the more one uses it the more profits they make.

Recent marketing has centered on vaccines. These are seen as massive profit centers for Big Pharma because it is "pitched" as a humanitarian effort by the drug companies. Of particular interest are the people who e-mail me regarding the HPV vaccine. These are usually parents who are concerned about their children.

I have listed below the most criticisms leveled by scientists and yes, my next favorite group, lawyers.

The criticisms made have included:

1. Safety: In a study published August 19, 2009, researchers reviewed reports of over 12,000 adverse side effects with Gardasil from June 2006 through December 2008. Of these adverse events, about 6% resulted in hospitalization, permanent disability or death.
   
   The most common symptoms reported were headache, nausea, fainting and dizziness. In addition to 32 deaths reported, there were 8 reports of anaphylactic reaction, 9 reports of deep vein thrombosis, 31 reports of Guillain-Barre syndrome (a rare, life-threatening nervous system disorder), 6 cases of pancreatitis, and 14 cases of pulmonary embolism.
   
   The researchers did not find that Gardasil caused the patient deaths. However, they also noted that any conclusions on the safety of Gardasil were limited due the possible underreporting of adverse events.
   
2. Effectiveness: Some physicians have questioned whether the vaccine prevents cervical cancer since the FDA approved the drug to protect against certain strains of HPV that can cause cervical cancer, but not all cancer-causing strains of HPV.
   
3. Marketing: Researchers have criticized Merck for maximizing the threat of cervical cancer to adolescents and minimizing that HPV is transmitted through sexual activity. A physician involved in clinical trials of Gardasil stated last year that Merck's marketing has been "so aggressive" that the company has "created a sense of panic that says you have to have this vaccine now."

I can't legally tell you what to do or not to do, but the death of one child is one too many for me. I would council my daughter and son to never never take any HPV vaccine and do what they have always done...abstain.