Posted on 02/17/2009 7:14:40 AM PST by BGHater
A Wichita teen and her mother want a popular vaccine taken off the market. Doctors say Gardasil is killing the 16-year-old.
The drug is used to prevent the HPV virus which causes cervical cancer. The makers of Gardasil recommend girls and young women ages 9-26 get the vaccine to protect them from the virus that causes cervical cancer.
Twenty-eight women have reportedly died from Gardasil.
Sixteen-year-old Gabi Swank used to be a cheerleader, a gymnast and a 4.0 student at Wichita's South High, but after getting the Gardasil vaccination last year, her health deteriorated quickly.
She's had two mini strokes, seizures and swelling of all the tissues in her body. She even has paralysis on the right side of her face. After months of testing, doctors finally pointed to Gardasil as the cause.
"I want this drug off the market. I want it off the market," said Swank from her home.
The CDC and the FDA say they have received thousands of reports of adverse reactions to the vaccine, but the government adds, it continues to find that the benefits of Gardasil outweigh the risks.
FYI Mom’s ping list?
Mom Ping
GMTA -— I was pulling up the list as you were typing :)
Jax is “supposed” to get this vaccine this summer -— it ain’t happening.
Just a statistically-insignificant anecdote. Move along, nothing to see here ...
Rick Perry, please call your campaign manager...
These sentences are why the media shouldn't be allowed to report anything science-related. Most people don't understand scientific things to begin with, and then we get the media making claims that HPV causes cancer. If reporters were in our labs, we'd have discovered a cure for cancer already. HPV may be a cause or a risk factor but it's being reported as the cause. Idiots.
No way. There’s too much money and hype in this drug, and it has political backing, as it did when they rushed it to market. I’m not being sarcastic here, if Phen-phen had the same political backing and money behind it, it’d still be on the market.
I guess it will be proposed for Elen at her next checkup, but my doctor won’t be surprised when I say, “No, thanks.” She knows I don’t get some of the vaccines even for infectious diseases, if we’re not likely to be exposed.
Our lib Governor actually did something right when he amended the mandatory law to make opting out easier than the original legislation.
Governor Good Hair white courtesy phone please...
Good for him. There are many drugs and vaccines that an adult may wish to receive, having calculated the risk/return to himself, but pushing them on children is deeply offensive, imo.
http://www.fiercevaccines.com/tags/gardasil (recall in Spain)
The CDC and the FDA say they have received thousands of reports of adverse reactions to the vaccine, but the government adds, it continues to find that the benefits of Gardasil outweigh the risks
Really? I bet the young women feels different.
What a stupid comment for a Government that subsidizes the production of tobacco.
I'm no doctor, but it seems to me that if a vaccine is a good enough idea, it can stand alone on its own merits - not need to be propped up by a massive paid-for advertising campaign.
Here it is “required” for entering 6th grade, that’s why I know the doc will bring it up this summer.
I couple of months ago I was furious about getting pharma propaganda about this vaccine from our former family doctor’s office. Why Jax is still listed as a “patient” is beyond me, considering the doctor is in Delaware and we had her records sent here more than 5 years ago..........
Correct me if I’m wrong, but, isn’t cervical cancer virtually unknown among girls and women who aren’t sexually active, and/or are in mutually monogamous relationships?
It seems to me that giving this to girls as young as 9 is absurd, if you are trying to protect them from something that they won’t be exposed to.
Or is the assumption that these young girls and young adult women are of course having sex, so they should get this shot.
And isn’t it true that this doesn’t protect against all cervical cancers anyway?
The CDC and the FDA say they have received thousands of reports of adverse reactions to the vaccine, but the government adds, it continues to find that the benefits of Gardasil outweigh the risks.
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How many dead girls or bad reactions is it going to take before it is taken off the market?
Just further proof that the FDA is not looking out for you. (As if you needed any more proof.)
The reasoning is that the girls will be sexually promiscuous shortly, and therefore should be vaccinated while they’re pre-pubescent.
And you’re right, the vaccine does not cover all strains of HPV, only some. Annual testing (pap smears) will still be necessary, and a real risk of the vaccine is that recipients will think they’re “safe” and not get their tests done.
Does anyone know in which states this is mandatory?
I get solicitations from the Diocese of Tulsa sometimes, and we moved in 2003. I always send a note back saying that we think they’re a fine organization and all, but they’re wasting postage keeping us on their mailing list!
I believe you are correct and it wouldn't matter anyway because this vaccine IS NOT for cervical cancer, it is for HPV which can ONLY be transmitted sexually.
LOL
Thank God the Texas legislature over-rode Gov. Perry’s order that all pre-teen girls be required to get this vaccine or the state of Texas would be liable for damages done by this highly dangerous drug.
Of course, as long as Merck continues to write big checks to politicians, the government will consider that that “benefit” outweighs the risk to our daughters’ health.
One of the reasons for pushing the HPV vaccine is that “mutually monogamous” is unverifiable. Nobody knows with scientific certainty that their spouse hasn’t had sex with other people.
However, even for adults, protection against some HPV infection has to be weighed against the cost and the risks of the vaccine.
“Jax is ‘supposed’ to get this vaccine this summer -— it ain’t happening.”
Good! I wouldn’t have had my boys vaccinated either, if the shoe were on the other foot!
It’s just a coincidence, of course. (sarcasm)
Meanwhile pharmacists start at 100K right out of school..
It’s all about money folks...
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6th graders are 11. This brand-new vaccine is *required* at your daughter's school for 11-year-olds??? I don't even know what to say. I'm speechless.
What do you intend to do?
HPV is virtually unknown amongst those groups, and Gardasil works on HPV.
You can get Cervical cancer wthout having HPV, and Gardasil does nothing for those cancers.
If you aren’t going to be sexually active, or will only do so with one partner who has not been sexually active, the benefits of Gardisil seem like nothing, which means the risk seems too great.
My daughter is not getting this vaccine. And we get most vaccines, we even did the chickenpox vaccine.
gabz, i also live in VA, are you sure it’s REQUIRED? my youngest is in 8th grade and we refused it for her when they inquired at the ped ofc, no one made an issue of it. my 20 yo also refused it on her own.
If you are particularly untrusting of the person you are marrying to spend the rest of your life with, you could ask for a blood test for HPV before getting married.
Of course, your husband could cheat on you later, and give you HPV.
Given the number of cases of cervical cancer attributable to the tpes of HPV that Gardisil prevents, the risks of a trustworthy husband cheating AND getting HPV and giving it to his wife AND his wife getting cervical cancer from it seem lower than the risk of side effects from the vaccine.
And of course, if the sexually active people all get vaccinated, that will protect the sexually monogamous people if their spouses do for some reason cheat.
I have a 7 yr old daughter - her pedi has flatly refused to administrater this shot (not that I wanted him to, I just asked since he had never mentioned it). He think’s it’s dangerous but his statement to me was telling:
“you teach her good morals, she won’t need it.” He’s from Eqypt, I guess he hasn’t been totally Americanized yet.
It is the commonwealth of Virginia, not the school itself, that requires it
What do you intend to do?
The only logical thing to do, say thanks but no thanks to the doc and sign the form stating I have been informed of the vaccine, etc., but have made a conscious decision to not have it given to my daughter.
It's actually very simple. No reason necessary. Which is why I put required in quotes, because it's really a toothless mandate.
OK, so we’ve all learned to mistrust the MSM when it comes to reporting on Iraq, the economy, climate change, politics and just about everything else. Yet, a story comes along where a 16 year old says she’s being killed by a vaccine and this is supposedly confirmed by anonymous “doctors” and despite the absence of any evidence in the peer reviewed medical literature that Gardasil is harmful we just accept this story at face value? I don’t think so.
Guillain-Barré Syndrome
This occurs accasionally with many forms of vaccine. It relly sucks.
Your daughter attends private school, so I have no idea about a requirement for her. However, it is required for public school, unless I opt out.
About the only good thing Gov Eyebrow has done. He pulled the requirement of a “legit” reason for opting out which the House version had in it. There are no teeth in the mandate, I just have to fill out a form in the doctor’s office stating I was informed about the vaccine and chose not to get it, which then gets returned to school with the rest of her records.
LOL Rick is gonna lose!!!
oh ok, pub school req.
This drug was not adequately tested on girls given
its known side-effects, and one doubts that anyone
gave informed consent because cervical cancer is
both curable if early, and uncommon.
There are quite a large number of us who are not having our daughters given this vaccine, not because of some MSM story or stories, but because we have done our own research on this drug.
Merck spent a very large fortune lobbying states to make this mandatory for girls as young as 9, however it has not tested for pre-pubescent girls.
Sad we have to hear such from another culture.
So much for the light in the hill...
Yes it was. Further, there is no evidence in the medical literature that Gardasil is responsible for any of the diseases that have been attributed to it in poorly sourced stories such as this one. Numerous clinical trials both pre and post-approval have shown Gardasil to be both safe and effective.
What really got my goat over the bill when it was being worked on was all the support it got from the Rs, which is why Kaine only modified it and did not outright veto it. There were enough votes to over ride n outright veto.
I’m an equal opportunity basher, so I feel I should commend Kaine for at least making it more palatable. Yes it is on the books as one of the “mandatory” vaccines, but the opt out is so simple as to make it meaningless.
Yes, those are the sorts of factors an adult would weigh in making a decision about this vaccine. Another issue is that, as someone mentioned above, cervical cancer (or pre-cancerous tissue deformation) can be treated very simply. Even without a vaccine, almost all cervical cancers are in women who did not have regular tests or did not have the recommended treatment for negative results.
IMO, the Gardasil commercial on TV have the teens made up like little whores.
no, i agree, credit where credit is due.
marking......
I have had many discussions with numerous MDs in regard to this vaccine. I’m not telling anyone to not have their daughter vaccinated, I’m just stating my position on not having my own daughter given this vaccine at 11 years old.
My position and opposition to this vaccine has nothing to do with morality and some blind faith idea my daughter will forever remain a virgin. My position is based upon my own research and my opposition is to the state mandating this vaccine.
HPV is not a communicable disease in the same way as measles, mumps, or chicken pox are communicable diseases and for that reason alone there should be no mandate for it.
The drug was never tested on pre-pubescent girls at all, but that’s for whom it is prescribed!! Merck’s just trying to make back the losses on its arthritis drug that was killing people...
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