Articles in Prominent Medical Journal Doubt Worth and Benefit of HPV Vaccines

LifeSiteNews ^ | 8/21/08 | Tim Waggoner

[wagglebee]

WASHINGTON, August 21, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The New England Journal of Medicine posted two articles this week that asked why two human papillomavirus vaccines have been so widely distributed given their unproven effectiveness and high costs.

Gardasil by Merck Sharp & Dohme, which has already received tremendous criticism for the severe and fatal side-effects experienced by users, and Cervarix by GlaxoSmithKline were the two drugs called to question.

As reported by the New York Times, Dr. Charlotte J. Haug, editor of The Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association, whose editorial appeared in Thursday's issue of The New England Journal, said, "Despite great expectations and promising results of clinical trials, we still lack sufficient evidence of an effective vaccine against cervical cancer.  With so many essential questions still unanswered, there is good reason to be cautious."

Both vaccines were tested for relatively short periods of time, revealed Dr. Haug, and researchers are yet to prove whether or not the vaccines offer lasting immunity and if a user's natural immunity to other strains not eliminated by the vaccines will be compromised.  Dr. Haug said it is not certain if the protection offered by the vaccines will even lead to reduced rates of cervical cancer.

Jane J. Kim and Dr. Sue Goldie of Harvard, who likewise had a study published in this week's issue of the medical journal, also brought up the fact that the vaccines have not been proven to offer life-long protection.  They said that until this is certain, the cost of the vaccines cannot be justified.

Furthermore, the costs of the vaccines cannot be offset by eliminating Pap smear screening because the test is still needed to identify HPV strands that the vaccines do not protect against.

These studies criticizing the effectiveness and cost of the HPV vaccines could not come at worse time for Merck – the drug giant is under fire because of a reported 9,749 cases of severe side-effects and 21 deaths associated with Gardasil.

See Related Coverage:

HPV Vaccine Causes 21 Deaths and Counting - CDC Study Launched
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08081405.html

[wagglebee]

Both vaccines were tested for relatively short periods of time, revealed Dr. Haug, and researchers are yet to prove whether or not the vaccines offer lasting immunity and if a user's natural immunity to other strains not eliminated by the vaccines will be compromised. Dr. Haug said it is not certain if the protection offered by the vaccines will even lead to reduced rates of cervical cancer.

And yet they want EVERY woman in the country to have this shot.

[wagglebee]

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[dragonblustar]

Does Texas still force girls to take this drug?

[CPOSharky]

Let’s see...

The shots costs a bunch...

You still have to get regular checkups...

You will never know if it worked...

It can have really bad side effects...

So, what is the point?

[Zechariah_8_13]

And yet they want EVERY woman in the country to have this shot.

Well, you do know why they chose the HPV vax, don't you?

Help Pay for Vioxx

In all seriousness, though, I hope the issues with this vax will cause people to give Big Pharma a bit more scrutiny. The approval and testing process on this vax was no more lax than it is for all vaccines. No vaccine given to children is tested for carcinogenic, mutagenic, or fertility effects. None.

Vaccines are often tested not against true placebos, but against the "old" version or against another vax. So let's say that in testing, Vax A causes a few seizures. But the "control", Vax B, does too. They effectively cancel each other out and the vax can be approved.

Additionally, side effects outside of a certain window are deemed to be unrelated to the vax. Usually this window is only 72 hours at the most. So as an example, if you develop paralysis in the vaccinated limb 1 week later, it's automatically determined that it wasn't caused by the vax.

And of special note: You cannot sue vaccine manufacturers.

[wagglebee]

Help Pay for Vioxx

Exactly! It's a lot easier to pay for potential lawsuits when they have a guaranteed income stream.