Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

S.A.N.E. VAX, Inc., is newly established non-profit organization dedicated to promoting  safe, affordable, necessary and effective vaccines and vaccination practices through education and information. Its mission is two-fold: to provide information individuals need to make informed decisions prior to vaccination, and to help people locate appropriate medical and legal assistance if they or a loved one suffers from a serious adverse event after a vaccination. The organization is beginning its work with a critical evaluation of the drug Gardasil.

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There is a push to expand the distribution of the Gardasil vaccine, manufactured by Merck & Company, to boys, as recent studies are linking the development of throat cancers to the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Gardasil is currently marketed as a treatment for girls and young women for the prevention of cervical cancer, which also is caused by HPV. HPV is a sexually transmitted virus. Gardasil protects against four types of HPV, two of which are most often linked to the development of cervical cancer.

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A recent study, funded by Merck Research Laboratories, a division of Merck & Company, which manufactures and markets the Gardasil vaccine, is touting the drug for use not only as protection against cervical cancer, but also to prevent genital warts and other low-grade cervical growths. The study uses its findings to also promote expansion of the drug’s target market to include boys and young men. Previously, the drug has been targeted at girls beginning at age 9.

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Merck and Co. announced yesterday that Dr. Julie Gerberding, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will head the pharmaceutical giant’s vaccine division. Dr. Gerberding served as the CDC director from 2002 to 2009, stepping down when President Barack Obama took office.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently rescinded its controversial and, some argued, discriminatory requirement that all girls and women ages 11 to 26 immigrating to the United States receive at least one injection of Gardasil, Merck’s human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.

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The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which informs the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on vaccine use and policy, declined to advocate for Gardasil’s systematic and widespread use in boys and men. The human papilloma virus, or HPV, does not present the same risks of cancer in males as it does in females, but it can lead to the development genital warts.

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