His EO didn't create the opt-out. The opt-out was created by the legislature in 2003, and is in place now.
Regardless of the exact source of funds, the manufacturer expects to be, and should be, paid. As I noted above, the effect of making the vaccine mandatory shifts the cost to those who pay insurance premiums; as well as "forcing" them to obtain the vaccine.
He'd save more lives by making influenza vaccines mandatory.
Perhaps the states could have saved MORE lives by mandating the flu vaccine, but, again, looking at it through the eyes of all our states, all of them implementing Gardasil programs at that time, take a look at the compulsive and significant information that the CDC and almost all other major health agencies and organizations were providing to all those states at that time. Right or wrong as we know it now, at least we can understand why HPV was an issue of national importance back then and why Gardasil programs were starting up all across the country during that time period.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr56e312a1.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/rr/rr5602.pdf
http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/dental/pdf/guidelines_for_vacination_2008.pdf
http://www.hu.ufsc.br/projeto_hpv/NEJM%2007%20OPORTUNIDADES.pdf
http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/551247
http://www.childrensmemorial.org/ce/online/article.aspx?articleID=190
I know those above links are all old links, but I think it is good for people to understand why all the states were implementing Gardasil programs back then. The CDC, American Cancer Society, Department(s) of Health, hospital researchers, physicians, and all kinds of reputable health organizations were promoting HPV as a significant health problem in the U.S. AT THAT TIME, and the states were listening and implementing Gardasil programs all across the country.
Granted, a couple years later a different vaccine, Ceravix (Michele Bachmann’s choice for HPV vaccinations) did become available, and some states then switched from Gardasil to Ceravix, but Ceravix was not approved or available until 2010 or so, well after all the states had already started with Gardasil.
Here are the two points:
1. ALL states were implementing Gardasil programs during that same time period. This also goes to the fact that Merck wasn’t receiving funds from just one state; it was receiving fund from ALL of them (on possibly varying levels though as you pointed out).
2. All states were implementing these Gardasil programs because of the warnings and recommendations the major health agencies and organizations (including The American Cancer Society and the CDC) were promoting to all the states. If you read the above information going out to all the states at that time period, you can see why the states became so concerned and jumped in with these Gardasil programs so passionately all across the country.
And here is a third point:
3. It is easier to see with hindsight than it is to know at the time what the future will see or what the future may hold.
So I’ll take your thought that perhaps the flu has touched more people than cancer, but I do think it helps to see why all our states were so concerned with HPV at that time and WHY they were all implementing Gardasil programs (and then Gardasil or Ceravix) programs.
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I have enjoyed our back and forth here. You have made many good points, and it has been good you were able to provide some actual information here to help in the process of America trying to figure this entire issue out. Thanks for sharing all you did!