Taking down the bullies (take two)

UPDATE: I'm reposting this piece because of the work of Judicial Watch. Please note these three deaths were NOT reported. Outrageous.

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released documents obtained from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, detailing 1,637 reports of adverse reactions to the vaccination for human papillomavirus (HPV), Gardasil.  Three deaths were related to the vaccine. One physician’s assistant reported that a female patient “died of a blood clot three hours after getting the Gardasil vaccine.”  Two other reports, on girls 12 and 19, reported deaths relating to heart problems and/or blood clotting. 

As of May 11, 2007, the 1,637 adverse vaccination reactions reported to the FDA via the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) included 371 serious reactions. Of the 42 women who received the vaccine while pregnant, 18 experienced side effects ranging from spontaneous abortion to fetal abnormities.

Side effects published by Merck & Co. warn the public about potential pain, fever, nausea, dizziness and itching after receiving the vaccine.  Indeed, 77% of the adverse reactions reported are typical side effects to vaccinations.  But other more serious side effects reported include paralysis, Bells Palsy, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and seizures. 

“The FDA adverse event reports on the HPV vaccine read like a catalog of horrors,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  “Any state or local government now beset by Merck’s lobbying campaigns to mandate this HPV vaccine for young girls ought to take a look at these adverse health reports.  It looks as if an unproven vaccine with dangerous side effects is being pushed as a miracle drug.”

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The tremendously talented Jill Stanek combines her love of women, her love of truth, and her investigative genius and contributes to the take-down of the HPV vaccine initiative.

A great source of excitement for me has been blogging on the pharma industry's lucrative idea earlier this year, which foolish legislators - almost all liberal - ran with, to mandate the HPV vaccine for all 11- and 12-year-old girls. The New York Times even disparaged one of my HPV posts, which is always a badge of honor.

The enthusiasm for the vaccine was at giddy proportions despite the lack of firm evidence.

Gardasil was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in June amid cheers that it could largely prevent cervical cancer among vaccinated women.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quickly recommended that all girls and women ages 11 to 26 receive the vaccine.

The American Cancer Society seconded the recommendation, although it concluded that there was "insufficient evidence" of benefit among women ages 19 to 26 because so many had already been exposed to the virus.

At least 24 state legislatures have introduced bills calling for mandatory vaccination of girls in their early teens or younger.

Yet now, Congress and the New England Journal of Medicine (thanks to writers like Stanek beating the drums) agree that the much-touted vaccine wasn't really effective. Again, more money, more hand-wringing, and more money to be made from the fodder of women's lives -- to no end. The LA Times reports:

New data on the controversial HPV vaccine designed to prevent cervical cancer have raised questions about its efficacy, researchers are reporting Thursday, undercutting efforts in many states to make vaccination mandatory.

Although the Merck vaccine, called Gardasil, blocked nearly 100 percent of infections by the two HPV strains it targets, it reduced the incidence of cancer precursors by only 17 percent overall.

Part of the reason was that many of the teenage girls and young women in the three-year study already had been exposed to the virus, according to the report in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Overall, the new results indicate that the vaccine is not living up to its initial prospects. The findings show that 129 women would have to be vaccinated to prevent one precancerous lesion....

And now we know that that not only did it not work, it was lethal.