The CDC announced today that they find no link between the vaccine Gardasil and over 10,000 reported cases of adverse reactions.
Oddly enough this announcement comes on the heels of disturbing economic data from Gardasil's producer, Merck.
Gardasil has been administered to over 2 million young women to protect against HPV, the human papillomavirus passed through sexual contact. The series of three injections costs over $200 per shot and is administered over the course of six months. Some girls as young as nine have been vaccinated.
Unfortunately for Merck, only one in four of their target market of 11 and 12 year olds is actually getting the drug so they are ramping up their campaign to lure the 19 to 26 year-old group to the doctor's office to demand their Gardasil. Merck has laid off over 17,000 employees in the last 3 years. Gardasil has not been performing as well as they had hoped. Last year Gardasil garnered $1.5 billion in sales, but in this year's third quarter sales are off by 15%.
Gardasil, introduced in 2006, protects against four types of genital human papillomavirus, HPV, that can cause cervical cancer in women. The vaccine targets forms of the virus linked to 70 percent of cases of cervical cancer. About 4,000 women die annually from cervical cancer.
Of course, there aren't any long term studies about what this vaccine can do.
1 comment:
My daughter got the shots when they first came out, a few years ago. She is almost 18 now and has had no side effects at all. Although I don't think it should be required for school,since it isn't contagious like mumps, measles or whooping cough, but I also don't think shots are some sort of government conspiracy to cause our children to become autistic or sick.
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