Posted on 09/14/2011 12:59:16 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
n Monday night’s debate, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum all seemed to be auditioning for the role that Jude Law plays in the film “Contagion” -- Alan Krumwiede, a blogger who tells millions that a vaccine to combat a lethal pathogen is actually dangerous, and claims both the epidemic and vaccine were created by government to enrich drug companies.
Krumwiede’s conspiracy theory proves deadly -- and so will these Republicans’, if anyone listens.
....Don’t be distracted by legitimate, but minor, questions about how states should make public-health decisions: The thrust of this attack is garbage -- and deadly garbage at that. The anti-vaccine psuedo-science behind the charge has been thoroughly discredited.
By alleging that vaccines cause retardation and brain damage, Bachmann is providing aid and comfort to such groups as Generation Rescue, which still defend the now-discredited claims that vaccines cause autism. (The Lancet decertified Andrew Wakefield’s “study” last year. This year, the British Medical Journal showed his research was bogus to boot.)
All three candidates slammed Texas Gov. Rick Perry for requiring immunization of 12-year-old girls against the human papilloma virus, a leading cause of cervical cancer. The attack truly became a blogworthy screed as we heard about how Perry and Merck (the developer of Gardasil, one of the two HPV vaccines) profited from the mandate at the expense of children’s health.
....Unless other Republicans confront Bachmann or she changes her tune, fewer parents will vaccinate their kids. More children will die. Tragically, life will imitate art.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
BACHMANN: Well, of course, I don't know the thoughts and the intents of the governor's heart. I have no idea what they are, nor would I speculate."<<<….. Source
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Gardasil and the GOP ……….. "In the extensive clinical studies (on more than 20,000 girls and women) that were performed prior to the FDA’s licensing of the vaccine, the vaccine was 100 percent effective, a virtually unprecedented result. How safe is the vaccine? No serious side effects were detected; the most common side effect is soreness, redness and swelling in the arm at the site of the injection.
……....In summary, Gardasil has one of the most favorable risk-benefit ratios of any pharmaceutical.
Having spent 15 years at the FDA and having seen regulation — the good, the bad and the ugly — up close, I am as opposed to anyone (except perhaps Ron Paul) to non-essential government intrusion into our lives. But some interventions are good. Among those I would include vaccination against childhood diseases and compulsory use of seat belts and motorcycle helmets.
I am discouraged by politicians who not only don’t know much about science, technology, or medicine (which is perhaps understandable) but also don’t know what they don’t know (which is unacceptable).
Here’s my advice to the presidential hopefuls: If you’re not sure of the facts, keep quiet.” Henry I. Miller, M.D., is Robert Wesson Fellow in Scientific Philosophy & Public Policy Hoover Institution.]
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The American Academy of Pediatrics also issued a pointed rebuttal to Bachmann's comments, without mentioning her name:
The American Academy of Pediatrics would like to correct false statements made in the Republican presidential campaign that HPV vaccine is dangerous and can cause mental retardation. There is absolutely no scientific validity to this statement. Since the vaccine has been introduced, more than 35 million doses have been administered, and it has an excellent safety record.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Academy of Family Physicians all recommend that girls receive HPV vaccine around age 11 or 12. That’s because this is the age at which the vaccine produces the best immune response in the body, and because it’s important to protect girls well before the onset of sexual activity. In the U.S., about 6 million people, including teens, become infected with HPV each year, and 4,000 women die from cervical cancer. This is a life-saving vaccine that can protect girls from cervical cancer. Source
Opposing HPV Vaccine "Unethical" - M.D. Anderson Cancer Center President "............ Dr. Ronald DePinho, the new president of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, says the vaccine is not just sound but "one of the great scientific advances in the history of medicine."......
Dumb premise for a movie. Maybe eight people read anybody's stupid blogs.
And furthermore...
Down with Vaccinations!
POLIO FOR EVERYONE!
Why does anyone need Gardasil if they are not sexually active?
And when they do become sexually active if they don’t have multiple partners why do they need it?
So in short, if you don’t have the risk factors (behavior) then why do you need it?
Now they're trying to make it illegal to NOT take their witches brew.
Some govt intrusion is good? It's OK to point guns, take prisoners, demand ransom, as long as it's good for you?
It isn’t all or nothing.
One can choose not to get a particular vaccination and not be against all vaccinations.
TEA PARTY is about limited government NOT under the guise of salvation accepting executive ordered mandates = taxes.
How much have we the taxpayer been charged to produce and distribute this drug? I mean from day one of research unto this date... Most especially since there are other options to protect oneself from becoming infected. That option does NOT cost all of US one thin dime.
If female, have you ever had a Pap smear? Your female relatives? Why bother? If you’re not promiscuous you don’t have to worry, right?
What about someone who is raped? What about someone who turns their life around? What about someone who unknowingly married a guy with a “history?” Did the woman who ends up with cervical cancer deserve it?
.........I have no problem with professional representatives of candidates or the candidates themselves showing up here to discuss their strengths and answer challenges but ONLY so long as they identify themselves as such. This ongoing battle among consulting firms and Party apparatchiks portraying themselves as grass roots activists has to stop. It is a fraud upon the people of this forum for which, in my opinion, they should be banned..... Checkout this suggestion to have posters on FR banned.
It was **pinged to me, Jim Robinson and others.
I will again say, I DO NOT represent (work for, coordinate with, have any association with) ANYONE but myself (and I never have) -- just as I DID when I posted threads for years in support of Sarah Palin. Now I support Rick Perry on Free Republic.
Sadly, many kids are sexually active from their early teens. Parents who are sure that their child and the furture spouse of their child will wait until marriage and be faithful should not hesitate to have their child opt out. For the others, the vaccine would probably be a good idea. My daughter is in her mid-twenties and knows several young women who already have had cervical cancer.
The point is, it should be your choice, not the governments. Its none of government’s business.
One size does not fit all.
How does one know one’s fiancee has never had sex before marriage and carrying latent HPV?
they assume every little lady out there is a tramp.
plain and simple.
there is a death issue with this as with all other vaccinations, it is an acceptable death factor. most vaccines come with that.
There is a vaccine that will prevent a deadly cancer, save thousands of lives, and you choose to not have it made readily available (ie cost, information and availability)?
And I don’t work for a pharmaceutical company.
Because they cannot be sure that their partner does not have other partners. I knew one woman who was in a 20+ year marriage who died of cervical cancer. Her husband cheated on her.
You need it so Merck can make a lot of money....
This thread is a crock, imho.
We are to think less of Representative Bachmann because of a role, scripted by a Hollywood leftist, in a MOVIE?
Give. Me. A. Break.
Hollywood is the lunacy.
Everyone here should appreciate the hard work and time you put in to provide so much information. I know it isn’t easy.
I do.
Conservatives are supposed to be bright enough to make judgements for themselves and don’t need to be protected from information we don’t agree with - as long as the information comes from a news source with a history we are aware of. Be it good or bad. If posting lies were to be banned, the NYT would be one of the first to go...
It is important to know what your enemies are up to and what is being said about both friend and foe, true or false. The real hope of FR is to expose the lies and false stories for what they are and make the truth as visible as possible.
….”The Gardasil vaccine was recommended the FDA’s vaccine approval committee, more than 6 months before Governor Perry’s Executive Order. All girls who qualified for the Federal Vaccines for Children program were eligible to receive the vaccine free of charge: Medicaid, CHIPs, and uninsured or those with insurance that won’t pay for vaccines. The Texas Legislature had previously delegated unconditional authority to mandate new vaccines to the Department of State Health Services, which is under Governor Perry and the Executive Branch.”
http://wingright.org/2011/09/13/one-more-time-perry-gardasil-and-the-facts/
The Governor’s Executive Order (RP 65) that caused all the controversy also ordered the director of DSHS to make it easier for parents to opt out of vaccines. The Legislature had changed the law from “opt in” to a requirement to “opt out” once for all the school years. Next, they changed to a two year limit on the opt out, and then in 2005, the Legislature restricted the period to one year and required a new State form bearing a “seal.” Parents had to go to Austin or start early in the summer. There were bureaucrats who maintained that the only way to get the form with the seal was to go to Austin, find the right office and make the request in person. Perry used his EO to tell the Director of DSHS to make the request (and the seal) available on-line, making it easier to “opt out.”
http://wingright.org/2011/08/07/dose-of-reason-perry-and-gardasil/
Does it offend you that Merck charges for its products?
So if government isn’t pushing it, it won’t be “readily available”?
If it works, great. If it is safe, great. If people want to pay for it and get it, great.
There’s just no end to “do good” government. And government “knows best”. If you let government dictate these things it will - and over the long run it always goes wrong.
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