But in at least two news interviews after the debate, Bachmann told reporters Gardasil was linked to mental retardation as a possible side effect. She says she received this information from a parent she spoke with after the debate, whose child had received the Gardasil vaccine. This account left medical experts scratching their heads, as mental retardation is not listed among the adverse events currently reported in connection with Gardasil.

The controversy is leaving many wondering, did Bachmann simply misunderstand the adverse event described to her by a young girl’s distraught mother, or is she trying to sensationalize her story? Perhaps even more importantly, what are the risks associated with Gardasil?

Since Gardasil’s introduction in 2006, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) has received more than 20,000 reports of adverse side effects related to Gardasil. These reports do include serious adverse side effects including Guillain Barre syndrome, lupus, seizures, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, among others. There also have been 92 reported deaths among girls who received the Gardasil vaccine.

In 2009, Dr. Diane Harper, one of the lead researchers in the development of two HPV vaccines, told an audience of medical professionals that in her opinion Gardasil is actually largely unnecessary. Almost all HPV infections are cleared naturally by the body’s immune system without harmful effect, she pointed out. In fact, Harper says, the rate of cervical cancer in the U.S. is so low, that vaccination is not expected to reduce the rate of cervical cancer in the U.S. at all.

Add to that, the vaccine has not been proven to last more than 5 years. In order for there to be true prevention, the vaccine would have to last a lifetime. For the target audience, 11-12-year-old girls, the vaccine is not likely to last long enough to protect them when they do become sexually active. However, cervical abnormalities that may indicate a risk of cervical cancer are still easily detectable through the use of regular pap smears. And, unlike Gardasil, pap smears have no risk of adverse event and cost only a fraction of the cost of Gardasil.

Despite the questions, by October 2009 the FDA had expanded the use of Gardasil in the U.S., approving it to treat boys and young men ages 9-26 for the prevention of genital warts, throat and anal cancers linked to HPV, as well as to curtail the spread of HPV. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that approximately 32 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed in the United States since about September 2006.

Though Michele Bachmann’s attempt to point out the risks of Gardasil may not have been artful, she should be applauded for her attempt to spotlight the problems with Gardasil. Gardasil is a vaccination that is costly, potentially dangerous, and likely ineffective at preventing cancer. The cost and the risk of injury far outweigh any benefits. Rather than encouraging vaccination, the wiser course would be to proceed with great caution in the vaccination of young girls and boys.

SOURCE: the Truth about Gardasil">Beasley Allen Case Site

The campaign is aimed at two senior scientists in the U.S. government – Dr. Mark Schiffman, who SaneVax identifies as a senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the official medical monitor of the HPV vaccine clinical trial; and Dr. Lauri Markowitz, a senior scientific officer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who is it says is responsible for instituting a post-licensure marketing program for HPV vaccines. Supporters of stronger regulations also are sending letters to their Congressional representatives.

According to the release, the letters demand the government “comply with the law and immediately implement a reliable post-licensure monitoring program to validate the benefits of the HPV vaccine, being marketed as a cancer vaccine, indeed outweigh its risks to consumers.”

Since Gardasil was approved for use in girls beginning as early as age 9, in 2006, there have been numerous reports of serious adverse events linked to the drug. Side effects reported following the vaccination include blood clots, immune deficiency disorders like Lupus, brain inflammation, seizures and even death. Because most side effects are reported through the voluntary Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), some advocates believe the incidence of serious side effects is higher than officially reported, as some victims would not think to link the drug to later health problems, and so these problems go unreported.

Manufacturer Merck maintains the drug is safe, and says that there is no conclusive link between the drug and later adverse health events. In fact, the drug recently received expanded approval by the FDA for use in boys and young men, for the prevention of HPV, and the reduction of incidence of penile, anal and oral cancers.

For more information, and sample letters, visit the website “Gardasil and Unexplained Deaths.” This site is operated by Emily Tarsel, whose daughter, Chris, who died days after receiving the Gardasil vaccine.

Visit SANEVax online.

SOURCE: the Truth about Gardasil">Beasley Allen Case Site

Gardasil, manufactured by Merck, is promoted as a preventive treatment against cervical cancer, which is caused by certain types of HPV, which is transmitted through sexual contact. Gardasil protects against four types of HPV, including two that indicate the highest risk of causing cervical cancer. However, the vaccine also has been linked to serious side effects including lupus, autoimmune disorders, seizures and even death following injections.

The news story notes that vaccination rates in Canterbury are less than half that in some other cities, such as Auckland and Wellington, where immunization rates are nearly 40 percent. However, vaccination rates are higher in Canterbury for older girls. Statistics indicate parents are concerned about vaccinating their daughters before the girls are sexually active, but not when they are as young as 12.

Source: The Press

SOURCE: the Truth about Gardasil">Beasley Allen Case Site

Since its introduction in 2006, the Gardasil vaccine has been linked to a number of side effects, some serious, like lupus, seizures, paralysis, blood clots and others. There also have been more than 70 deaths reported following administration of the Gardasil vaccine, which is given in a series of three injections over a six month period.

However, the coroner in this recent case, Michel Ferland, is concerned because it appears the victim died as a result of drowning. She was found in the bathtub of her family home. According to a report in the Toronto Sun, the girl’s mother said she had a number of adverse reactions following her first dose of the Gardasil vaccine, including dizziness and memory loss. She was treated for those symptoms at a Montreal hospital. Two months later, she received the second in the series of vaccinations. Days later, she was dead.

Is it possible that a recurrence of side effects like dizziness struck the young teen, making her incapable of leaving the bath or calling for help, resulting in her drowning? Or might her death be more directly related to another serious side effect of the drug?

Ferland is concerned enough about a possible link between the Gardasil vaccine and the young girl’s death that he is calling for further studies of the drug to be conducted in Canada, and he is asking the Canadian health agency to provide better information to patients about possible side effects of the drug. Health Canada approved the drug in 2006.

SOURCE: the Truth about Gardasil">Beasley Allen Case Site

The directive went into effect in July of last year, mandating Gardasil shots for immigrant females despite mounting evidence that the shots could cause serious injury and death. The shots were also required of females who posed no risk of contracting or spreading HPV to the wider population.

In determining which vaccines immigrants are required to have, the CDC’s rule of thumb is that the vaccine must target viruses that could potentially cause an outbreak and viruses that either have been eliminated from the United States or are in the process of elimination. HPV does not fit any of the criteria.

Immigrants are still required to undergo a series of 15 other vaccinations before gaining U.S. resident status and citizenship. Neither federal health officials nor the pharmaceutical companies have tested the safety of vaccinations in combination. No research has been conducted on the interaction of Gardasil vaccines with other vaccines and what adverse effects such cocktails could have on the recipient.

Soon after the CDC added Gardasil to the list of required vaccines for immigrants, more than 100 advocacy groups representing women, immigrants, and consumer health challenged the requirement, protesting that it was unfair to require HPV vaccines for immigrants but not all U.S. citizens.

Merck had been lobbying hard to make the vaccines mandatory for all school-age American girls, but their plans were strongly opposed by an unlikely band of abstinence-only conservatives, Big Pharma critics, individual parents and parent groups, a growing anti-vaccine movement, and a number of consumer advocacy and women’s rights groups.

The 3-shot series costs between $300 and $1,000, putting a financial strain on immigrants already burdened by thousands of dollars in application fees and mandatory medical exams. Mandatory Gardasil vaccinations would have provided Merck with a revenue stream of at least $4 billion annually.

SOURCE: the Truth about Gardasil">Beasley Allen Case Site

Although the committee did not press for the use of Gardasil in men, it did advise U.S. doctors to use the vaccine at their discretion. It also recommended that the shot be included in the federally funded Vaccines for Children program for boys 9 to 18 years old.

The FDA approved Gardasil on October 16 for use in preventing genital warts in males age 9 to 26. Men may carry HPV and never know about it unless it develops into warts, and even then there are no long-term effects. On the other hand, women infected with genital warts are at risk of developing cervical cancers.

Gardasil only protects against 4 strains of HPV that cause cancer and 2 strains that cause warts.

Vaccinating boys and men with Gardasil would primarily be done to reduce the number of females exposed to HPV. However, the serious risks that the Gardasil shots carry, combined with their steep cost – about $500 for a complete regimen – leave many health professionals and patients questioning whether the vaccines are worth it.

Since 2006, when the FDA approved Gardasil for use in females, more than 15,000 girls have reported adverse side effects to the FDA’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Reactions that have been officially reported include brain inflammation, seizures, blood clots, paralysis, lupus, Guilliane Barre Syndrome, and several others. 44 deaths attributed to the vaccine have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Merck, which stands to earn billions from the shots, maintains that the vaccine is safe and that the benefits outweigh the risks. But for thousands of girls and women injured by Gardasil, the vaccines were anything but harmless – a fact made more frustratingly tragic by the lead developer’s own admission that Gardasil is ineffective and unnecessary.

SOURCE: the Truth about Gardasil">Beasley Allen Case Site