Friday, February 02, 2007

Gardasil: New Vaccine for Cancer???

I love Texas. But, this is the silliest and most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!! You may have already seen the commercials for Gardasil. As if misleading advertising wasn't enough, now Texas is the first state to mandate the vaccine!

My friend Sarah used to work as an abstinence educator in high schools and she has a good post on this subject.

I have the same frustrations she has...and then some. When Ed and I heard about this on the news tonight, we were both shocked. I don't know what Gov. Rick Perry was thinking on this deal...unless, of course, he was just letting Merck do all the thinking for him. Which seems to be the norm with legislators and doctors alike these days. I was frustrated that the news report I watched touted this vaccine as a vaccine for cancer. Not true. This is a vaccine for a VIRUS - Human Papilloma Virus (or HPV)...the STD that causes most cases of cervical cancer. So, yes, in a side-stepped sort of way, I suppose it could help cancer rates. But, at what price? Our society has adopted the attitude that "kids are going to do it anyway, so we might as well protect them." That's been the rationale for condoms, sex ed, the pill...and now a vaccine. Is that the best we've got to give our kids? Kids are crying out for us to stand up and show them the way. God's laws are not random. They protect us. Even from cancer, I guess!

7 comments:

Lori Eilers said...

I couldn't agree more, Angela. It's very frustrating and misleading. Our kids deserve the TRUTH!

Anonymous said...

don't get me started!!! aaagghhh!

Jennifer said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

HPV causes cancer - and guess what? 20 Million Americans are infected with the HPV virus - most without knowing it. I had cervical cancer and any vaccine against ANY cancer is a step in the right direction, as far as I'm concered. As a mom of two daughters, I'm happy this is available for them. Be realistic, not angry. Be happy to be cancer-free.

Stacey said...

Well there is always a difference of opinion when it comes to medicine.
We here at well-known cancer institution are frankly very hopeful that this vaccine will make good progress in eliminating cancer. As you may or may not know, I work in the department of head and neck cancer, and now you are wondering why I am even commenting on the HPV vaccine. Well, I can say that my surgeon is currently publishing an study that shows middle-aged women and men who were never smokers and never drank alcohol have developoed oral cancers (mainly tonsil cancer). The tissues have been tested and show a direct relationship to HPV infection.

The mis-fortunate thing is that they are only requiring girls to have to vaccine, it should also include boys.

I fully agree that we should teach abstinence to our children, however, why is this such a "touchy" subject. Because HPV is an STD? I don't hear any of you objecting to the other vaccines that your children are getting (MMR, Polio, Tetanus, chicken pox). Where's the blog rebuking these vaccines? Last time I checked (which is daily at the cancer center, people are still dying of cervical and oral cancer.) A vaccine, still early on the market and research....something to look forward to seeing more data.

From this soon to be mom of a little girl...we will discuss this vaccine and also sexual relationships at length in our home, I hope you will do the same.

Anonymous said...

We here in the Insurance Industry have known for years that Drunk Driving causes Auto Accidents. I think we should mandate the installation of Breathalyzers in all cars, this way if you're drunk you can't start your car and cause an auto accident....that is a crazy idea...Instead how about self accountability of not drinking and driving, hmmm the majority of us make that decision everyday without a "Vaccine". Kind of like self accountability of not have sex outside of marriage "again no vaccine needed to make this decision either". Looks to me like a pharma company looking to make $$$ Billions $$$$ convinced the government to make a decision without regards to the mental/physical impact we will have on our nations youth.

Developing a Vaccine that may save lives is one thing, marketing (mandating) it to young females as encouragement to have sex with no regrets is another.

Regardless of your political, religious, professional, etc. beliefs I hope that anyone else that places a Post on this Blog site takes the time to really understand that this comes down to a personal choice that will lead all of us to the same decision. Take everyone else out of the equations, do away with all of your past baggage and I suspect you will find the true tragedy of the decision that was made here. If you can't, obviously you are not able to accept responsibility for your actions and you will continue to look elsewhere to place blame.

As for Angela and I, the decisions made by the TX Government are disappointing (at best).

ps: I am going to start buying stock in a "Breathalyzer" company in hopes that the insanity continues and that one day all vehicles will have this device in them.

Thanks, Ed.

Anonymous said...

As a male struggling with a large human papilloma wart on the anal canal passage;... I often wish I had the courage to get the Gardasil Vaccine sooner to improve the quality of not only my life but my partners.