Gardasil Researcher Drops A Bombshell

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<http://thebulletin.us/articles/2009/10/25/top_stories/doc4ae4b76d07e16766677720\

..txt>Gardasil

Researcher Drops A Bombshell

By Susan Brinkmann, For The Bulletin

October 25th 2009

 

Harper: Controversal Drug Will Do Little To Reduce Cervical Cancer Rates

 

Dr. Diane Harper, lead researcher in the development of two human

papilloma virus vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix, said the

controversial drugs will do little to reduce cervical cancer rates

and, even though theyre being recommended for girls as young as nine,

there have been no efficacy trials in children under the age of 15.

 

Dr. Harper, director of the Gynecologic Cancer Prevention Research

Group at the University of Missouri, made these remarks during an

address at the 4th International Public Conference on Vaccination

which took place in Reston, Virginia on Oct. 2-4. Although her talk

was intended to promote the vaccine, participants said they came away

convinced the vaccine should not be received.

 

I came away from the talk with the perception that the risk of

adverse side effects is so much greater than the risk of cervical

cancer, I couldnt help but question why we need the vaccine at all,

said Joan Robinson, Assistant Editor at the Population Research Institute.

 

Dr. Harper began her remarks by explaining that 70 percent of all HPV

infections resolve themselves without treatment within a year. Within

two years, the number climbs to 90 percent. Of the remaining 10

percent of HPV infections, only half will develop into cervical

cancer, which leaves little need for the vaccine.

 

She went on to surprise the audience by stating that the incidence of

cervical cancer in the U.S. is already so low that even if we get the

vaccine and continue PAP screening, we will not lower the rate of

cervical cancer in the US.

 

There will be no decrease in cervical cancer until at least 70

percent of the population is vaccinated, and even then, the decrease

will be minimal.

 

Apparently, conventional treatment and preventative measures are

already cutting the cervical cancer rate by four percent a year. At

this rate, in 60 years, there will be a 91.4 percent decline just

with current treatment. Even if 70 percent of women get the shot and

required boosters over the same time period, which is highly

unlikely, Harper says Gardasil still could not claim to do as much as

traditional care is already doing.

 

Dr. Harper, who also serves as a consultant to the World Health

Organization, further undercut the case for mass vaccination by

saying that four out of five women with cervical cancer are in

developing countries.

 

Ms. Robinson said she could not help but wonder, If this is the case,

then why vaccinate at all? But from the murmurs of the doctors in the

audience, it was apparent that the same thought was occurring to them.

 

However, at this point, Dr. Harper dropped an even bigger bombshell

on the audience when she announced that, There have been no efficacy

trials in girls under 15 years.

 

Merck, the manufacturer of Gardasil, studied only a small group of

girls under 16 who had been vaccinated, but did not follow them long

enough to conclude sufficient presence of effective HPV antibodies.

 

This is not the first time Dr. Harper revealed the fact that Merck

never tested Gardasil for safety in young girls. During a 2007

interview with KPC News.com, she said giving the vaccine to girls as

young as 11 years-old is a great big public health experiment.

 

At the time, which was at the height of Mercks controversial drive to

have the vaccine mandated in schools, Dr. Harper remained steadfastly

opposed to the idea and said she had been trying for months to

convince major television and print media about her concerns, but no

one will print it.

 

It is silly to mandate vaccination of 11 to 12 year old girls, she

said at the time. There also is not enough evidence gathered on side

effects to know that safety is not an issue.

 

When asked why she was speaking out, she said: I want to be able to

sleep with myself when I go to bed at night.

 

Since the drugs introduction in 2006, the public has been learning

many of these facts the hard way. To date, 15,037 girls have

officially reported adverse side effects from Gardasil to the Vaccine

Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). These adverse reactions

include Guilliane Barre, lupus, seizures, paralysis, blood clots,

brain inflammation and many others. The CDC acknowledges that there

have been 44 reported deaths.

 

Dr. Harper also participated in the research on Glaxo-Smith-Klines

version of the drug, Cervarix, currently in use in the UK but not yet

approved here. Since the government began administering the vaccine

to school-aged girls last year, more than 2,000 patients reported

some kind of adverse reaction including nausea, dizziness, blurred

vision, convulsions, seizures and hyperventilation. Several reported

multiple reactions, with 4,602 suspected side-effects recorded in

total. The most tragic case involved a 14 year-old girl who dropped

dead in the corridor of her school an hour after receiving the vaccination.

 

The outspoken researcher also weighed in last month on a report

published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that

raised questions about the safety of the vaccine, saying bluntly:

" The rate of serious adverse events is greater than the incidence

rate of cervical cancer. "

 

Ms. Robinson said she respects Dr. Harpers candor. I think she's a

scientist, a researcher, and shes genuine enough a scientist to be

open about the risks. I respect that in her.

 

However, she failed to make the case for Gardasil. For me, it was

hard to resist the conclusion that Gardasil does almost nothing for

the health of American women.

 

 

 

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