: Time for the Truth about Gardasil

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Time for the Truth about Gardasil

Posted by Dr. Mercola | April 17 2010 | 14,406 views

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/04/17/time-for-the-truth\

-about-gardasil.aspx

In an important OpEd piece from the Washington Examiner, Barbara Hollingsworth

sets the record straight about Gardasil:

“Cervical cancer accounts for less than 1 percent of all cancer deaths -- so

it was somewhat surprising when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

fast-tracked approval of Gardasil, a Merck vaccine targeting the human papilloma

virus that causes the disease.

>As of the end of January 2010, 49 unexplained deaths following Gardasil

injections have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. By contrast, 52 deaths are

attributed to unintended acceleration in Toyotas, which triggered a $2 billion

recall.â€

There has been no recall for Gardasil, however. In fact, as Hollingsworth points

out, it is required for sixth-grade girls in D.C., Maryland, Virginia, and many

other states.

Unfortunately, “Merck denies any of the deaths are related to its vaccine, and

the parents involved can't prove they were,†Hollingsworth writes.

India Suspends Gardasil!

Unlike in the United States, The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has

told two Indian states, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, to halt its Gardasil vaccine

study, which was slated to test the vaccine in about 32,000 girls between the

ages of 10 and 14.

DNA India reports:

“The program is part of a two-year study to look into the utility of a vaccine

in public health programs and acceptability of Gardasil.

>The program was marred by controversy after four deaths and complications among

120 girls were reported after vaccination. The girls complained of stomach

disorders, epilepsy, headaches and early menarche.â€

Sources:

  Washington Examiner March 30, 2010

 

  DNA India April 8, 2010

 

 

 

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

 

It is indeed suspicious that the FDA put Gardasil on a fast-tracked approval

process. What many people fail to appreciate is that the human papilloma virus

is a sexually transmitted disease, not a virus you can get by shaking

someone’s hand.

>Further, they were surely well aware that at least 50 percent of sexually

active men and women acquire genital HPV infection at some point in their lives

-- and 90 percent of the time the virus clears up on its own within two years,

and does not lead to cancer.

Why Are We Wasting Our Resources on this Vaccine?

Cervical cancer is just not that common to begin with. There were just over

11,000 new cases diagnosed in 2009, and about 4,000 women died of the disease

that year, according to the American Cancer Society.

>Cervical cancer killed 12 times fewer people in 2009 than did hospital-acquired

infections … yet the FDA chose to fast-track the Gardasil vaccine? It just

doesn’t add up.

>That is a TOTAL of 4,000 deaths in the US for the year. While even one death is

tragic, it is important to keep these numbers in perspective. All this time,

effort and energy is being invested to save 4,000 lives.

>This entire program is being initiated with virtually no long-term safety

studies or effectiveness rates.

>Just this month in India, the country’s government suspended the Gardasil

vaccination study that was supposed to test the vaccine in about 32,000 girls.

The program was halted because four girls died after receiving the vaccine, and

more than 120 others reportedly suffered stomach disorders, epilepsy, headaches,

early menarche and other adverse events.

>In the United States, meanwhile, where we’ve had over 17,000 adverse

reactions and 59 deaths, the vaccine is still being recommended.

>Yet if we were to implement a program to optimize everyone’s vitamin D levels

we could save 200,000 deaths from cancer a year

>That is FIFTY times the number of lives that are reportedly being saved by

Gardasil for what most likely would be a less expensive program. And you can

rest assured many of those saved would be some of the 4,000 that would have died

from cervical cancer.

Serious Side Effects, Including Unexplained Death, Common

Merck only studied the Gardasil vaccine in fewer than 1,200 girls under 16 prior

to it being released to the market under the fast-tracked road to licensure. To

date, most of the serious side effects, including deaths, that occurred during

the pre-licensure clinical trials and post marketing surveillance have been

written off as a “coincidence†by Merck researchers and government health

officials.

>But it is becoming clear that these reactions are more than just coincidence;

this vaccine appears to be one of the most dangerous on the market.

>In an analysis comparing the vaccine to another for meningitis (Menactra), the

National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) found that Gardasil was associated

with:

> * At least twice as many emergency room visit reports (5,021)

> * Four times as many death reports (29)

> * Seven times as many disabled reports (261)

> * Three to six times more fainting reports

>As of March 2010, there were more than 17,600 reports of adverse reactions

regarding the Gardasil vaccine in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.

>Among them are 59 deaths, 18 of which were among girls under the age of 17.

>When previously healthy teenagers die within days of receiving a vaccination,

there needs to be a serious investigation performed, at the very least.

>Unfortunately, a staggering majority (about 89 percent) of all adverse reaction

reports filed for Gardasil are so incomplete they cannot be used to perform the

follow-up required to find out what happened, what caused the problem, and most

importantly, how to avoid it from happening to others.

>This is why NVIC is currently petitioning President Barack Obama and Congress

on behalf of families to investigate Gardasil vaccine deaths and serious

injuries. If you agree that these, and countless other cases like them, sound

like more than a “coincidence,†please sign the Petition to Investigate

Gardasil Vaccine Risks Now! 

Help Spread the Truth about Gardasil

Despite its serious side effects and growing list of adverse reactions, in

October, 2009 the FDA also approved Gardasil for use in boys to prevent genital

warts … so now this dangerous vaccine is putting all young people at risk.

>Most Americans have blindly placed their trust in the vaccine makers and in

federal health agencies, whose responsibility is to ensure that drugs and

vaccines licensed for public use are safe, effective and necessary.

>Yet this is often not the case.

>As Barbara Loe Fisher, President and co-founder of NVIC, said:

>“I have a sense of déjà vu as the story of Gardasil vaccine plays out real

time. There are striking parallels between how those operating the mass

vaccination system reacted in the 1980's to persistent reports that the DPT

vaccine was harming more children than originally assumed, and the way they are

reacting now to persistent reports that Gardasil is more reactive than it was

originally assumed.

>>Assumption of safety is no substitute for proof of safety.

>>And turning away from human suffering in order to protect the status quo is

not the way to run a government that needs the trust and support of the people.

>>In the 18th century, Queen Marie Antoinette looked down at a starving people

pleading for bread to stay alive and said " Let them eat cake. " It is time for

everyone in government, industry and medicine to take a different approach to

persistent reports of vaccine injuries and deaths or risk metaphorically

suffering the same fate that ended the monarchy in France.

>>In the 21st century, today's peasants don't have pitchforks - they have

laptops, desktops, smartphones and the internet.â€

>Again, I urge you to sign the Investigate Gardasil Vaccine Risks Now! petition

and also share the truth about Gardasil with your friends and family.

>Over the years it has become very clear that those responsible for protecting

your health are not looking out for your best interest and that of your

children.

>And if they won’t do it, then it is up to you and me to do it.