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Tags: merck | hpv | gardasil | obama

Merck's Prescription for Profit: HPV Vaccine for Young Boys

Wednesday, 26 October 2011 10:50 AM EDT

The CDC delivered some disturbing news with the announcement that Merck’s Gardasil, the so-called cervical cancer vaccine, is now approved for routine use in boys. Initially approved in 2006 for girls and young women ages 9 to 26, it understandably caused controversy considering it addresses the possible result of contracting cancer via a sexually transmitted disease.

Other vaccines for children target viruses which are spread through casual, or no contact, between other children. Targeting children with a vaccine for a behavior-based virus that is contracted in private is another matter entirely.

One of the first misnomers about Gardasil, of course, is that it’s a vaccine against “cancer.” Actually, it targets the STD human papillomavirus, or HPV, from which cancers can develop. Image of Merck facility, Gardasil being it's latest vaccine.

While HPV is linked to cervical cancer among women, the approval for use in boys is bizarre. The New York Times reports that many HPV-related cancers in men are related to homosexual sex. This makes even stranger the CDC’s recommendation that the vaccine be given to all boys starting at 11 years old. After all, I suppose it’s easier to inject a drug into every child than to suggest we guess which ones will become gay. And besides, there would be so much less money to be made!

Parents are understandably concerned about the impact of this drug on their girls, and many parents are still rebelling despite the drug’s marketing as "necessary." At least one governor, with ties to Merck, now famously made the drug mandatory, negating parents’ involvement. Fortunately, Rick Perry was overridden by his own state legislature after outrage from parents in Texas and nationwide. Perry now seems to regret his action.

Perry repeatedly claimed during recent GOP debates that his go-to choice to take control of children from their parents was because he “hates cancer.” Yeah, we all hate cancer, and it’s good for parents to have options, but with complete information and without government working as big pharma’s handmaiden by pushing unproven (and possibly unnecessary) and potentially dangerous drugs on our children when no publicly communicable virus is at issue.

Only through a Freedom of Information Act request by Judicial Watch have we found the extent of the "adverse reactions" in patients receiving Gardasil injections, including numerous deaths, seizures, paralysis, and blindness. I’m sure to Merck’s disappointment, parents rejected the vaccine marketing and despite revenue in the billions, Gardasil did not become the cash cow they expected. Each year, revenue has been decreasing, as much as 12 percent in 2010 compared to 2009.

In 2009, Gardasil was optional for boys. With its approval for "routine" use, has the CDC done Merck a favor by widening the reach of Gardasil to make up for their disappointing revenue using girls?

When the CDC official approves a vaccine for routine use, it means health insurance companies must pay for it, and at $113 a shot with a three-dose requirement, that’s quite a payday for the drug company. This must have been welcomed news for Merck after disappointing revenue led to implementing massive layoffs this year amounting to 30 percent of its workforce.

Obama’s crony capitalism has actually been helping Merck and its Gardasil showboat all along. First thought to be a boon with which to increase their customer base, the idea of a new drug that could be administered to children in the name of ending cancer had the promise of the being the pharma’s biggest moneymaker. After all, vaccines can be mandated by governments and administered by schools all in the name of Big Government’s favorite euphemism, "protecting the children." In Merck’s case, they also got big pharma’s dream payoff — a lot of federal crony capitalist help.

In 2009 Obama went to work helping the economy — of Merck, that is. At least 20 percent of Merck’s Gardasil sales that year came from the federal government for the CDC Strategic National Stockpile. In February of this year Obama conducted a very public meeting with the president of Merck to discuss, yes, the economy. Just eight months later Merck would get its great "boys" news from the CDC. Merck also happens to be a major Barack Obama campaign contributor for 2008 ($86,000 compared to $18,000 for McCain), and is on track for being a major 2012 donor as well.

The problem of crony capitalism among our elected officials is horrid enough, but the arrogance and cynicism of elected officials in both parties has grown so malignant that now they will even use our children in their craven race for more power and money.

Parents everywhere must reject this nihilistic agenda once and for all.

Tammy Bruce's website is at www.tammybruce.com

(c) Tammy Bruce

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TammyBruce
The CDC delivered some disturbing news with the announcement that Merck s Gardasil, the so-called cervical cancer vaccine, is now approved for routine use in boys. Initially approved in 2006 for girls and young women ages 9 to 26, it understandably caused controversy...
merck,hpv,gardasil,obama
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2011-50-26
Wednesday, 26 October 2011 10:50 AM
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