By: Sandra Perlingieri
“The fantasy that there are shortcuts that come in syringes or bottles remains, for now just that: a fantasy.” –Peter B. Bach, MD(1)
On June 8, 2006, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new cervical cancer vaccine, called Gardasil, manufactured by Merck [the company that also made the pain-killer Vioxx that was removed from the market due to the potential doubling of heart attacks and strokes]. Girls 11-26 were targeted for a three-shot regimen, given over six months. The cost is about $400. This vaccine is also approved for girls as young as nine years old. By February of 2007, “at least 20 states [were] considering making its use mandatory for schoolgirls.”(2)
Serious side effects from Gardasil were already being reported within the first year. “Between June 8, 2006, and Dec. 31, 2008, 11,916 adverse reactions to the vaccine and the death[s] of 32 young women and girls” were reported.(3) By the Summer of 2009, vaccine-related injuries had climbed to 15,000. On March 30 of this year, the reported unexplained deaths following Gardasil injections had increased to 49.(4) More information is available at the National Vaccine Information Center: www.nivc.org
In February 2009, Spain recalled “76,000 doses of Gardasil Following Seizures in Two Young Girls.”(5) At the time, Erin Brockovich noted that in the US: “We’ve had more than two girls [became] sick, and to my knowledge NO doses of the vaccine were ever recalled here. The issue is that two girls got sick and Spain responded immediately. Think of the human cost of rushing to market.”(6)
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