General Assembly To Families: We Own Your Children HB2035

After heavy-duty lobbying by Merck, the Virginia General Assembly passed HB2035, a bill that requires little girls be vaccinated with a brand spanking new cervical cancer vaccine called Gardisil before they enter 6th grade or they cannot attend public school.

Parents can opt their daughters out of the vaccine but they must justify this decision to the state.

How many parents will be aware of the following report?

The National Vaccine Information Center yesterday warned state officials to investigate the safety of a breakthrough cancer vaccine as Texas became the first state to make the vaccine mandatory for school-age girls.
Negative side effects of Gardasil, a new Merck vaccine to prevent the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer, are being reported in the District of Columbia and 20 states, including Virginia. The reactions range from loss of consciousness to seizures.
"Young girls are experiencing severe headaches, dizziness, temporary loss of vision and some girls have lost consciousness during what appear to be seizures," said Vicky Debold, health policy analyst for the National Vaccine Information Center, a nonprofit watchdog organization that was created in the early 1980s to prevent vaccine injuries.

There is also the matter of Merck money clouding the issue. It would be interesting to do some follow up on the money trail in Virginia, especially after what is being reported in Texas.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Gov. Rick Perry's chief of staff met with key aides about the human papillomavirus vaccine the same day its manufacturer donated money to his campaign, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.

Chief of staff Deirdre Delisi's calendar shows she met with the governor's budget director and three members of his office for an "HPV Vaccine for Children Briefing" on Oct. 16.

That day, New Jersey-based Merck & Co.'s political action committee donated $5,000 to Perry and $5,000 total to eight state lawmakers.

The calendar and other documents obtained by the AP show Perry's office began meeting with Merck lobbyists about the vaccine as early as mid-August, months before social conservatives, who are now those most outraged by the order, helped re-elect him in November.

Did Merck contact Virginia legislators and government officials prior to passage of this new mandate to usurp parental authority? Is there a money trail?

Unlike measles and mumps, the HPV viruses which cause certain types of cervical cancer are not contracted by sitting in classrooms no matter how crowded.

With all due respect, I cannot think of a single person in the Governor's office or the State Legislature that I would trust to knowledgeably order a medical directive like this concerning anyone, much less children.

Previously on UCV: NO to mandatory HPV vaccinations

NO to Mandatory HPV Vaccinations

CWA-VA has some facts about the HPV Vaccine and the legislation to be voted on in the House of Delegates this Friday. The idea of a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer is wonderful. The problem here, in my opinion, is the lack of statistical data on long term effects on developing girls and the difficulty parents will have opting their children out of the immunizations.

I don't believe our General Assembly at this time is qualified to make these decisions for parents, especially when this is such a new medical development. Let's see what the professionals are saying after a few more years of research before making this mandatory for girls to attend the 6th grade.

Meanwhile, thanks to an aggressive television ad campaign, the public is becoming aware of the vaccine and parents can look to their family doctors for advice.

Bill Number: HB 2035
Bill Title & Summary: Human papillomavirus vaccine; added as required vaccination.
Requires females to receive three doses of properly spaced human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. The first dose shall be administered before the child enters the sixth grade. This bill contains a delayed effective date of September 1, 2008.
Next Action: House Floor

• HPV infection is a serious problem in our sex-saturated society. It is easily transmitted not only because condoms do not completely protect against it, but because it can be transmitted skin to skin as well as in sexual intercourse.
• Annually, two and a half million American women experience an abnormal Pap smear; a majority of those have an HPV infection. HPV is the primary cause of cervical cancer (99 percent). Cervical cancer is diagnosed in 13,000 women a year with almost 5,000 deaths annually.
• HPV is associated with several other cancers as well: oral, vaginal, vulva, penile and anal cancer.
• Recently, a vaccine against the strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This vaccine, Gardasil, manufactured by Merck, is available in a three-shot regimen over a period of six months.
• The vaccine has shown to be effective against HPV types 16 and 18 which are responsible for 70 percent of all cervical cancers and HPV types 6 and 11 which are responsible for 90 percent of genital warts (another manifestation of HPV infection). There is no evidence that it reduces the risk for cervical cancers caused by other HPV types which cause the remaining 30 percent of cervical cancers [Statement from the Medical Institute for Sexual Health on HPV Vaccine].
• There are more than 100 types of HPV; the vaccine is effective against four of them, albeit they are the ones which cause most of the problems. According to its manufacturer the vaccine will not protect against HPV types to which patients have already been exposed, and it will not protect against other diseases that are not caused by HPV.
• Since the vaccine is most effective before a girl becomes sexually active, many are recommending that girls be vaccinated at nine to 12 years of age. There have been no long-term studies on the effects of the vaccine.

o No one knows for sure how long the antibody titer necessary to produce an immune response will last. Some have suggested that a booster shot will be necessary in five years.
o If a girl is vaccinated at age 11, her maximum immunity would be declining by age 16 the age at which many girls become sexually active.
o The vaccine has been approved only for less than a year.
o It does not prevent all cervical cancer. Girls and women will still be required to get a regular Pap smear to detect cervical cancers caused by other HPV types. Having had the vaccine might give women a false sense of security.

• Some have said it gives a message to our youth that we expect them to be promiscuous.
• Parents, not the state, should make medical decisions for their child.
• Because of the newness of the vaccine and the unclear status of long-term effects and efficacy, should our children have to be the state’s guinea pigs? Many worry that there are no statistics on carcinogenicity, or genotoxicity or chromosomal damage. Since this vaccine will be given to mostly pre-pubescent girls, shouldn’t we have the facts on that?