Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Bachmann: Gardasil causes “mental retardation”
Hot Air ^ | September 13, 2011 | Ed Morrissey

Posted on 09/13/2011 8:09:37 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife

Earlier today, I noted that Michele Bachmann finally scored points on Rick Perry by hitting him on his ties to Merck and linking that to the Gardasil mandate Perry imposed through executive order in Texas. This is a fair point on Perry’s record, even given his apology for pursuing the mandate through EO instead of through the legislature, and it’s not surprising that Bachmann was the candidate to first take advantage of the opening. (Mitt Romney passed a mandate on health insurance for all citizens of Massachusetts, which pretty much puts this issue out of reach for him.) However, Bachmann took a winning argument about the method and the wisdom of mandating a vaccination for a limited-spread virus and turned it into an anti-vaccination argument, especially in this post-debate argument on Fox with Greta van Susteren.

>>>"There’s a woman who came up crying to me tonight after the debate. She said her daughter was given that vaccine. She told me her daughter suffered mental retardation as a result of that vaccine."<<<

Huh? “Mental retardation” typically takes place in a pre- or neo-natal event. Autism becomes apparent in the first couple of years of life — and primarily affects boys. Gardasil vaccinations take place among girls between 9-12 years of age. Even assuming that this anecdote is arguably true, it wouldn’t be either “mental retardation” or autism, but brain damage.

The FDA has received no reports of brain damage as a result of HPV vaccines Gardasil and Cervarix. Among the reports that correlate seriously adverse reactions to either, the FDA lists blood clots, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and 68 deaths during the entire run of the drugs. The FDA found no causal connection to any of these serious adverse events and found plenty of contributing factors to all — and all of the events are exceedingly rare.

The “mental retardation” argument is a rehash of the thoroughly discredited notion that vaccines containing thimerasol caused a rapid increase in diagnosed autism cases. That started with a badly-botched report in Lancet that allowed one researcher to manipulate a ridiculously small sample of twelve cases in order to reach far-sweeping conclusions about thimerasol. That preservative hasn’t been included in vaccines for years, at least not in the US, and the rate of autism diagnoses remain unchanged.

The most charitable analysis that can be offered in this case for Bachmann is that she got duped into repeating a vaccine-scare urban legend on national television. It looks more like Bachmann sensed that she had won a point and wanted to go in for the kill, didn’t bother to check the facts, and didn’t care that she was stoking an anti-vaccination paranoid conspiracy theory, either. Neither shines a particularly favorable light on Bachmann.

Rick Santorum took the correct position on the Gardasil issue. We mandate certain vaccines in children because we mandate children be gathered for educational purposes for many years (in private or public schools), and certain diseases are easily communicable in those settings. By mandating vaccinations against whooping cough, measles, and mumps, we are protecting children who would otherwise get exposed without any action on their part except compliance with the law. That’s not true with HPV, and parents should decide for themselves whether to inoculate their sons and daughters with Gardasil or Cervarix. If Perry wanted to make those inoculations more accessible, he could have crafted an opt-in system rather than forcing parents to opt out.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: antiscience; antivax; bachmann; bachmann4romney; barkingmoonbat; cancer; feminism; gardasil; gopprimary; hpvvaccine; palin; perry; perry2012; vaccinehoax; vanmeuslixlips
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 181-200201-220221-240 ... 361-375 next last
To: Nervous Tick

I’ve known some jealous mamas in my time. That’s how Michelle has acted. Call it a fault if you must, and that it can cause her to view molehills as mountains sometimes, but it’s true.


201 posted on 09/13/2011 9:32:17 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (There's gonna be a Redneck Revolution! (See my freep page) [rednecks come in many colors])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 187 | View Replies]

To: casinva

I’m not going to bash someone just because they like Greta or anyone else who is a scientologist. But if she is going to talk against vaccinations with Greta, she is promoting scientologist views and we have to stand against that.


202 posted on 09/13/2011 9:32:17 AM PDT by ari-freedom (It's time for Obama to get a downgrade.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 167 | View Replies]

To: Jewbacca

Holy Moly.

You can not get genital HPV types from a handshake.

Most commonly genital HPV types are transmitted during vaginal and anal sex....the virus can also be transmitted during oral sex and hand to genital sex play.

Genital HPV types tend to stay in the genital area.

Non Genital HPV types can effect the hand...so if a person had a wart on his hand the virus type that effects his hand may be transmitted to you during a hand shake. Non genital HPV tend to stay in the non gential area.

The most common way to acquire genital HPV types is with skin to skin contract from genital area to genital area. Some genital HPV tpes do affect the oral area during oral sex then the virus could be acquired in the oral area. If a person has oral HPV then it might be transmitted during a deep french kiss.

A person diagnosed with genital HPV types may not have the virus in the oral area.

Here is a list of the most common non genital HPV types and genital HPV types. They are 40 genital HPV so not all types are listed here.

Nongenital Cutaneous Disease
HPV Type
Common warts (verrucae vulgaris)
1, 2, 4, 26, 27, 29, 41, 57, 65
Plantar warts (myrmecias)
1, 2, 4, 63
Flat warts (verrucae plana)
3, 10, 27, 28, 38, 41, 49
Butcher’s warts (common warts of people who handle meat, poultry, and fish)
1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 28
Mosaic warts
2, 27, 57
Ungual squamous cell carcinoma
16
Epidermodysplasia verruciformis (benign)
2, 3, 10, 12, 15, 19, 36, 46, 47, 50
Epidermodysplasia verruciformis (malignant or benign)
5, 8, 9, 10, 14, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 37, 38
Nonwarty skin lesions
37, 38
Nongenital Mucosal Disease
HPV Type
Respiratory papillomatosis
6, 11
Squamous cell carcinoma of the lung
6, 11, 16, 18
Laryngeal papilloma
6, 11, 30
Laryngeal carcinoma
16, 18
Maxillary sinus papilloma
57
Squamous cell carcinoma of the sinuses
16, 18
Conjunctival papillomas
6, 11
Conjunctival carcinoma
16
Oral focal epithelial hyperplasia (Heck disease)
13, 32
Oral carcinoma
16, 18
Oral leukoplakia
16, 18
Squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus
16, 18
Anogenital Disease
HPV Type
Condylomata acuminata
6, 11, 30, 42, 43, 44, 45, 51, 52, 54
Bowenoid papulosis
16, 18, 34, 39, 42, 45
Bowen disease
16, 18, 31, 34
Giant condylomata (Buschke-Löwenstein tumors)
6, 11
Unspecified intraepithelial neoplasia
30, 34, 39, 40, 53, 57, 59, 61, 62, 64, 66, 67, 68, 69
Low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia
6, 11, 43
Intermediate intraepithelial neoplasia
31, 33, 35, 42, 44, 45, 51, 52
High-grade intraepithelial neoplasia
16, 18, 56, 58
Carcinoma of vulva
6, 11, 16, 18
Carcinoma of vagina
16
Carcinoma of cervix
16, 18, 31
Carcinoma of anus
16, 31, 32, 33
Carcinoma in situ of penis (erythroplasia of Queyrat)
16
Carcinoma of penis
16, 18
http://search.medscape.com/emedicine-sea…;


203 posted on 09/13/2011 9:34:04 AM PDT by netmilsmom (Happiness is a choice)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 194 | View Replies]

To: indylindy

“All a person has to do is Google to see the lawsuits regarding this drug. And those took Gardasil voluntarily.”

No, you have to go by science, not by the number of lawsuits filed by ambulance chases.


204 posted on 09/13/2011 9:34:42 AM PDT by ari-freedom (It's time for Obama to get a downgrade.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 144 | View Replies]

To: jersey117

“You are taking a single issue from a 10 year record of running the state. He’s bound to have made a mistake or two during the decade. There are more conservative decisions and leanings in his record than not. Sorry if he’s not as perfect as Palin.”

You want another issue? How about being pro-illegal alien. There’s two. How finding HilaryCare “interesting” There’s three.

As far as Palin. I don’t support her. she’s not in the race.

For now, I am with Bachmann, the only proven (ie voting) conservative in the race.


205 posted on 09/13/2011 9:35:55 AM PDT by wilco200 (11/4/08 - The Day America Jumped the Shark)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: netmilsmom
Reasons for HPV vaccine
206 posted on 09/13/2011 9:36:16 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 203 | View Replies]

To: Jewbacca

The temperature reached inside most clothes dryers will sanitize clothing just fine. Bleach is overkill.


207 posted on 09/13/2011 9:36:21 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (There's gonna be a Redneck Revolution! (See my freep page) [rednecks come in many colors])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 194 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife
Bachmann's out for me. Demagoguing this and saying people "didn't have a choice" is just a lie.

And the mental retardation comment is shameful.

208 posted on 09/13/2011 9:37:11 AM PDT by GunRunner (***Not associated with any criminal actions by the ATF***)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TigersEye

Your comment was the fact that there was an “opt-out” as if that somehow makes it ok for the government to try and impose it will.


209 posted on 09/13/2011 9:38:06 AM PDT by wilco200 (11/4/08 - The Day America Jumped the Shark)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 135 | View Replies]

To: ari-freedom

The truth is often in the mushy middle. Science can take a decade or more to catch up with what was common gossip among parents.


210 posted on 09/13/2011 9:38:16 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (There's gonna be a Redneck Revolution! (See my freep page) [rednecks come in many colors])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 204 | View Replies]

To: Vermont Lt

“It is more an issue when your kid is sitting next to some product of a third world $hit-hole that has come into the country and doesn’t quite understand what the indoor plumbing thing is all about.”

such as across the Texas border


211 posted on 09/13/2011 9:38:24 AM PDT by ari-freedom (It's time for Obama to get a downgrade.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 190 | View Replies]

To: thackney
I know.

We all do.

212 posted on 09/13/2011 9:38:44 AM PDT by Trailerpark Badass
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 197 | View Replies]

To: KansasGirl
I hate to say it, but Bachmann is using a tactic that only a Democrat could love.

A woman came crying to me, blah, blah, blah. I guess the woman was a Research Scientist, right?

Bachmann will not be our Candidate. I hope nobody is wasting their money on her. I had high hopes, but...

213 posted on 09/13/2011 9:38:44 AM PDT by Kickass Conservative (Liberals, Useful Idiots Voting for Useless Idiots...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: TigersEye

So, any and all “opt out cluases” will do? You’re an idiot. If a Democrat did this, and a Democrat actually did, you’d be pissed, but since a Republican by name did this you’re fine with it.

Hope your chains are not too tight.


214 posted on 09/13/2011 9:39:01 AM PDT by CodeToad (Islam needs to be banned in the US and treated as a criminal enterprise.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 124 | View Replies]

To: Trailerpark Badass
-- But I have never liked the political gamesmanship during the primaries. --

It depends. Sometimes I like a good flame war, and have even been an enthusiastic participant from time to time, tweaking such luminaries as Howlin and nopardons.

I get bored with the repetition during election season, but one can pretty quickly learn which posters specialize in repetition, making the skim through for "signal" over noise speedy enough.

215 posted on 09/13/2011 9:39:47 AM PDT by Cboldt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 152 | View Replies]

To: ari-freedom

Well that is another whole argument we would probably agree on most the time. There is a racket going on with more entities than a few regarding that.

Does not mean that some of these drugs can’t have devasting consequences.

Nothing is usually either/or.


216 posted on 09/13/2011 9:39:47 AM PDT by dforest
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 204 | View Replies]

To: netmilsmom
As of June 1, 2009, the CDC reported that over 25 million doses of Gardasil, which is recommended for women between ages 9-26, have been distributed in the U.S. and there was an average of 53.9 VAERS reports per 100,000 vaccine doses. Of these, 40 percent occurred on the day of vaccination, and 6.2 percent were serious, including 32 reports of death.

Crunching the numbers that is 3.234 serious adverse reaction reports per 100,000 which is .003234%. 32 deaths out of 25 million vaccinations is .000128%. Looks like pretty small numbers to me.

217 posted on 09/13/2011 9:40:42 AM PDT by 6ppc (It's torch and pitchfork time)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 171 | View Replies]

To: indylindy
All a person has to do is Google to see the lawsuits regarding this drug.

Oh great. Now the trial lawyers are treated as expert witnesses.

218 posted on 09/13/2011 9:41:12 AM PDT by GunRunner (***Not associated with any criminal actions by the ATF***)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 144 | View Replies]

To: GunRunner

I disagree, I think that Bachmann mama is jealous for your (and my) freedom. If she went too far, yes she ought to acknowledge that. But Perry is a bit fast and loose for her comfort. We want something a bit stiffer this time around than a Bush-y “compassionate conservatism” that actually means dipping into the Democrat policy book.


219 posted on 09/13/2011 9:42:19 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (There's gonna be a Redneck Revolution! (See my freep page) [rednecks come in many colors])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 208 | View Replies]

To: Cboldt

There are some here who are preternaturally invested in their candidate of choice, to the point that it’s creepy.


220 posted on 09/13/2011 9:42:54 AM PDT by Trailerpark Badass
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 215 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 181-200201-220221-240 ... 361-375 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson