[SaneVax: Dr. Chandler Marrs is a research scientist on a mission. She believes women need adequate data on which to base their healthcare decisions – without it, there is no such thing as informed consent. HPV vaccines are no exception. Read her analysis of a recent ‘study’ which has been widely quoted in the traditional media – Surveillance of Autoimmune Conditions Following Routine use of Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus Vaccine.]
Statistical Shenanigans with Gardasil Research
By Chandler Marrs PhD
Something’s hinky in the land of Gardasil surveillance and it’s not just the vaccine. It’s the statistics used in one of their widely reported surveillance studies on Gardasil-suspected autoimmune conditions. From the medical marketing and even the abstract of the study, which is all that most will ever read, it looks like there is no connection between the vaccine and the onset of autoimmune conditions. Indeed, all of the major media reported the appropriate PR:
- HPV vaccine not linked to autoimmune disorders
- Study: No link between HPV vaccine and autoimmune disorders
- HPV vaccine unlikely triggered autoimmune disease
- No increase in autoimmune conditions from use of HPV vaccine
One organization even failed to change the url before directly copying the press release from another agency; (guess which one, I was surprised). It is unlikely that anyone read this study before blasting the PR far and wide. Otherwise, if they had read the dubious and creatively contorted statistical manipulations, the headlines would have been much different. Perhaps, Researchers Choose Statistics Least Likely to Find Results in Gardasil Study, would have been more appropriate.
I have a nasty habit of reading research before I write about it. I’m sure it will get me in trouble at some point, particularly as this blog grows, but I can’t help it. I want to understand the research.
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