Michele Bachmann Correct to Criticize Gardasil Mandate, Doctors Say

TUCSON, Ariz., Sept. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In Monday's presidential debate, Representative Michele Bachmann properly stood up for the rights of patients and their parents to reject government-mandated vaccination, despite the knee-jerk critical reaction by those who unquestioningly support all government mandates for immunizations.

The crony capitalism that exists between drug companies, lobbyists, and politicians should be exposed. Elected officials should be held accountable for forcing schoolchildren to take risks in order to boost drug company profits.

Without adequate testing but with well-placed political funding and lobbyists, Merck pushed for requiring that the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Gardasil, be given to young schoolgirls as a condition for entering sixth grade. But the disease it supposedly protects against is not even contagious in the school environment.

"There was no public health justification for requiring this to attend school," states Jane M. Orient, M.D., executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS).

A researcher for the HPV vaccine was even critical of its use without more complete warnings. She pointed out that the data available for the vaccine showed it might last only five years, while most of the recipients of the vaccine would not even encounter the disease during that period. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/19/cbsnews_investigates/main5253431.shtml Those who do not engage in promiscuous sex would never encounter the disease at all, unless given to them by a promiscuous partner.

Dr. Jon Abramson, a member of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, declared that "I told Merck my personal opinion that it shouldn't be mandated. And they heard it from other committee members." http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=40432

There have been serious harms from the HPV vaccine, causing tragedy for patients who did not receive meaningful disclosures about its risks.

Then there is the expense: this HPV vaccine costs hundreds of dollars for something that most of the recipients do not even need protection against. If given to 4 million schoolchildren entering schools nationwide, that's a multi-billion dollar expense just for the cost of the vaccine, and many billions more for those who suffer adverse effects. Incidentally, a government mandate for the vaccine immunizes the manufacturer from liability.

We applaud Representative Bachmann for standing up for patients, and for parents. She repeated one parent's statement that the vaccine apparently caused cognitive problems in her child, and no one has disproven that possibility. We need to hear more, not less, about parents' and patients' experiences with these vaccines, so that they can weigh the risks and benefits for themselves. Vaccines, like all medical treatments, should be given only with fully informed consent.

Children who are not a risk to others should not be barred from attending school, nor should their parents be subjected to onerous opt-out procedures in order to exercise their rights.

AAPS, a national organization representing physicians in all specialties, (www.aapsonline.org) was founded in 1943 to defend the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship.

SOURCE Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)