[PROVE] ALERT: Gov of Texas Orders STD Vaccination on 6th Grade Girls

Dear Friends,

Watch for this in ohter states!  If you would like to help the families of
Texas by expressing your concern to our Texas Governor Rick Perry about the
implications of his actions on the rest of the United States of America, you
can contact him at his governor's Opinion Hotline Citizen's Assistance and
Opinion Hotline: (512) 463-1782, Office of the Governor Fax: (512) 463-1849,
Mailing Address: Office of the Governor, P.O. Box 12428, Austin, Texas
78711-2428, or by online submission at
http://www.governor.state.tx.us/contact/#contactinfo - thank you! Here is
the alert that went out in Texas if you could please forward it ot any
contacts in Texas.

Dear PROVE Members:
Even though the states of Michigan, Maryland, and Indiana have killed,
pulled down, or gutted proposed legislation to mandate the controversial new
vaccine called Gardasil made by Merck for the sexually transmitted virus
HPV, our Texas governor Rick Perry did the unthinkable by bypassing the
entire Texas legislature from the process and issuing an intrusive executive
order forcing all of our 11 and 12 year old little girls to be vaccinated
against this sexually transmitted virus in order to attend the 6th grade!

IMMEDIATE responses to your Texas state senator and representative
expressing your opposition is needed!

There are several brave legislators that are working hard at trying to
reverse this, but in order for other legislators to be receptive and sign
onto and support these efforts, they need to know that the people who voted
to put them into office are outraged by the governor's actions.  Please make
your voice heard NOW!

The governor is hiding behind the claim that parents can opt out of this
mandate, but he is not telling parents the truth that in many cases, the
exemption isn't worth the piece of paper it is printed on:  private and
parochial schools don't have to accept the exemption, physicians do not have
to accept the exemption and many throw families out of their practices for
not receiving all state mandated vaccines, and some insurance companies are
discriminating against families whose kids have not received all the
vaccines on the state's required list.  Additionally, the exemption process
is a bureaucratic nightmare requiring written requests to the State Health
Department in Austin forcing the disclosure of your children's full names,
birthdates, and mailing address.  Sometimes these forms take weeks to be
mailed out by the health department disrupting school attendance and the
forms must be notarized and repeatedly submitted every 2 years.

If you don't know who represents you, you can link to
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/
and enter your address.  Click on the links provided for your Texas State
Senator and Texas State Representative to obtain their phone, fax, and
email.  Forward this alert to your friends and family and ask them to help
flood the legislature with messages that this is a totally unacceptable
abuse of power and demanding that something be done by the legislature to
reverse this and prevent it from happening again.

Thank you!
Sincerely,
Dawn Richardson
Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education (PROVE)
www.vaccineinfo.net

Here are a handful of talking points to consider:

1) Governor Perry's Executive Order, that MANDATES the HPV vaccine for 6th
grade girls, circumvents the legislative process by usurping the authority
of our elected representatives to debate and decide bills already filed in
the Texas legislature.

2) This MANDATE usurps the rights of the parents of Texas to make medical
decisions for their minor children by requiring this vaccine.  It is the
parents who have to live with the consequences if their child is injured by
the HPV vaccine, not the governor or the state of Texas. Texas vaccine
exemptions don't apply in many cases so parents aren't really free to say no
to this shot if it is mandated.

3) This MANDATE forces our little girls to be "experiments" for the new HPV
vaccine that has only been on the market since June of 2006 - less than one
year!  It is made by Merck - the same drug makers as Vioxx! There are
already 82 reports of serious adverse events filed with the FDA following
the administration of this vaccine.

***

Oppose Governor Perry's Executive Order Mandating HPV Vaccine for 6th Grade
Girls:
What Do We Really Know About the HPV Vaccine?

QUESTIONABLE NECESSITY AND EFFECTIVENESS

The American Cancer Society says that even though infection with the
sexually transmitted virus HPV is an important risk factor for cervical
cancer, most women with HPV infection do not get cervical cancer. Doctors
believe other factors must come into play for this cancer to develop. Some
of these factors are smoking, HIV infection, Chlamydia infection, diet,
long-term use of birth control pills, multiple pregnancies, low income,
mothers who took hormonal drug DES, and family history. [1]   These are not
typical risk factors affecting junior high girls.

According to the National Institutes of Health National Cancer institute, in
more than 90% of the cases, HPV infections are harmless and go away without
treatment. [2]

Also, according to the CDC, most cervical cancer can be prevented and
cervical cancer is very rare in women who get regular PAP tests.[3]
Cervical Cancer is not a major killer in the state of Texas thanks to PAP
screenings: in 2000, there were 371 deaths from cervical cancer, in 2001
there were 352 and in 2002 there were 329. [4]

The CDC says there are more than 100 strains or types of HPV and over 30
strains are sexually transmitted. [5] Yet the vaccine under consideration
for mandate covers only 4 strains. [6]   About 30% of cervical cancers can't
be prevented by the vaccine, so women will still need regular cervical
cancer screenings. [7].

The only current vaccine manufacturer for the HPV vaccine, Merck, admits on
their package insert that the duration of immunity from the vaccine is
unknown. [8]  In clinical trials, the vaccine's effectiveness was only
followed for 4 years.[9]  Yet we do know from the CDC that the incubation
period for the HPV virus is about 20 years [10] and the median age of women
diagnosed with cervical cancer is 48 [11].  Therefore, no claims to proof of
cervical cancer prevention by vaccinating preteen girls should be made.

QUESTIONABLE SAFETY

The HPV vaccine Gardasil was approved by the FDA on June 8, 2006 after 6
months of review.[12]  It has been on the market for less than 1 year.

The chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on infectious
diseases was quoted in the Washington Post in response to a proposed mandate
in Washington D.C. saying that he thought it was premature to recommend
making the vaccine mandatory. "I think it's too early," said Joseph A.
Bocchini,."This is a new vaccine. It would be wise to wait until we have
additional information about the safety of the vaccine." [13]

Dr. Martin Meyers, director of the National Network for Immunization
Information, was quoted in the Baltimore Sun in response to a proposed bill
in Maryland to mandate HPV vaccines for 6th grade girls, "A lot of us are
worried it's a little early to be pushing a mandated HPV vaccine."  He also
said "It's not the vaccine community pushing for this." The article
spotlighted HPV vaccine manufacturer Merck's aggressive role in pushing for
a mandate where across the U.S., HPV vaccine mandates could mean $4 billion
dollars in sales for Merck [14] who is currently plagued by lawsuits for
withholding critical safety information to doctors and patients about their
popular painkiller drug Vioxx.[15]

The FDA's Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System has already received 82
reports of serious adverse events following HPV vaccination with Gardasil
since its approval last June. [16]

More questions remain.  Disclaimers printed on the manufacturer's package
inset state that the vaccine has not been tested for it's own ability to
cause cancer [17] and the effect on a woman's reproductive capacity is
unknown. [18] Additionally, the vaccine is genetically engineered yet the
manufacturer admits it has not tested the vaccine for genotoxicity[17]
(testing to see if the vaccine is toxic to our own human DNA).  Each dose of
the vaccine contains 225 mcg of aluminum [6] which means girls receiving all
3 HPV doses will be directly injected with 675 mcg of aluminum.

QUESTIONABLE COST

The retail cost of the vaccine is $120 per dose, or $360 for the full series
of 3 shots. [7]  According to one of the authors of the bills filed, Sen.
Leticia Van de Putte, there are 162,000 6th grade girls[19] which translates
to forcing Texas families paying over $58 million dollars not including the
doctor visits for a vaccine not proven to prevent cervical cancer.  This is
a high price to force families to pay especially for families skeptical of
the necessity, efficacy, or safety of the vaccine.  Merck is absolved from
liability for the injuries and deaths caused by the HPV vaccine through the
National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 [20] leaving families to deal
with the emotional and monetary costs of the harm caused by the vaccine to
their daughters on their own.

The vaccine is available to anyone who wants it, so it does not need to be
mandated.  Federal health programs such as Vaccines for Children cover the
HPV vaccine to children and teens under 19 years of age, who are either
uninsured, Medicaid-eligible, American Indian, or Alaska Native. The VFC
Program also allows children and teens to get VFC vaccines through Federally
Qualified Health Centers or Rural Health Centers, if their private health
insurance does not cover the vaccine [7], so insurance mandates which raise
the cost of insurance for everyone who does not want or need the vaccine are
not necessary.

[1] The American Cancer Society, What Causes Cancer of the Cervix.
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_2_2X_What_causes_cancer_of_the_cervix_Can_it_be_prevented_8.asp?sitearea=

[2] The National Institutes for Health, National Cancer Institute.
http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/results/cervical-cancer-vaccine1102

[3] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cervical Cancer
Screening and Prevention.
http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/CervicalCancerScreeningPrevention8-3-2005.ppt#267,10,Most
cervical cancer can be prevented

[4] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention United States Cancer
Statistics.  http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/uscs/

[5] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Sexually Transmitted
Diseases, Genital HPV Infection - CDC Fact Sheet.
http://www.cdc.gov/STD/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm

[6]  Gardasil package Insert. 2006. Page 1.
http://www.fda.gov/cber/label/hpvmer060806LB.pdf

[7] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HPV Vaccine Questions and
Answers.
http://www.cdc.gov/STD/HPV/STDFact-HPV-vaccine.htm

[8] Gardasil package Insert. 2006. Page 5, paragraph 6.
http://www.fda.gov/cber/label/hpvmer060806LB.pdf

[9] Gardasil package Insert.  2006. Page 2, paragraph 2.
http://www.fda.gov/cber/label/hpvmer060806LB.pdf

[10] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Immunization
Program, Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Minutes of the
October 26-27, 2005 ACIP meeting, p. 57.

http://www.cdc.gov/nip/acip/minutes/acip-min-oct05.pdf

[11] National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Cancer Stat
Fact Sheets
http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/cervix.html

[12] FDA News, Press Release.
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01385.html

[13] The Washington Post, "D.C. Bill Would Mandate Vaccine" by Nikita
Stewart and Rob Stein.  January 10, 2007, p. A01.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/09/AR2007010901386.html

[14] The Baltimore Sun, "Drug Firm Pushes Vaccine Mandate, Merck Lobbies Md.
On HPV Preventive. by Laura Smitherman, January 29, 2007.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.md.cervical29jan29,0,166914.story

[15] The Star-Ledger, "Attorneys Lay Out Cases to Open Double Vioxx Trial",
by Susan Todd, January 23, 2007.
http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/base/business-0/1169532761221410.xml&coll=1

[16]
http://www.medalerts.org/vaersdb/findfield.php?PAGENO=1&PERPAGE=10&VAX=HPV4

[17] Gardasil package Insert. 2006, Page 8, paragraph 17.
http://www.fda.gov/cber/label/hpvmer060806LB.pdf

[18] Gardasil package Insert. 2006, Page 9, paragraph 1.
http://www.fda.gov/cber/label/hpvmer060806LB.pdf

[19] Houston Chronicle, Vaccine Proposal Likely to Stir Debate,  by Todd
Ackerman.  Jan. 10, 2007.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4459579.html.

[20] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and
Services Administration National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/

***

http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ats-ap_health11feb03,0,5076229.story?coll=ny-leadhealthnews-headlines

Texas Gov. Orders Anti-Cancer Vaccine

By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON
Associated Press Writer

February 3, 2007, 6:26 AM EST

AUSTIN, Texas -- Some conservatives and parents' rights groups worry that
requiring girls to get vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus
that causes cervical cancer would condone premarital sex and interfere with
the way they raise their children.

By using an executive order that bypassed the Legislature, Republican Gov.
Rick Perry -- himself a conservative -- on Friday avoided such opposition,
making Texas the first state to mandate that schoolgirls get vaccinated
against the virus.

Beginning in September 2008, girls entering the sixth grade will have to
receive Gardasil, Merck & Co.'s new vaccine against strains of the human
papillomavirus, or HPV.

Perry also directed state health authorities to make the vaccine available
free to girls 9 to 18 who are uninsured or whose insurance does not cover
vaccines. In addition, he ordered that Medicaid offer Gardasil to women ages
19 to 21.

Perry, a conservative Christian who opposes abortion and stem-cell research
using embryonic cells, counts on the religious right for his political base.
But he has said the cervical cancer vaccine is no different from the one
that protects children against polio.

"The HPV vaccine provides us with an incredible opportunity to effectively
target and prevent cervical cancer," he said.

Opponents say Perry should have let the Legislature decide whether to impose
a mandate.

"He's circumventing the will of the people," said Dawn Richardson, president
of Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education, a citizens group that fought
for the right to opt out of other vaccine requirements. "There are bills
filed. There's no emergency except in the boardrooms of Merck, where this is
failing to gain the support that they had expected."

Texas allows parents to opt out of inoculations by filing an affidavit
objecting to the vaccine on religious or philosophical reasons. Conservative
groups say such provisions still interfere with parents' rights to make
medical decisions for their children.

The executive order is effective until Perry or a successor changes it, and
the Legislature has no authority to repeal it, said Perry spokeswoman Krista
Moody. Moody said the Texas Constitution permits the governor, as head of
the executive branch, to order other members of the executive branch to
adopt rules like this one.

The federal government approved Gardasil in June, and a government advisory
panel has recommended that all girls get the shots at 11 and 12, before they
are likely to be sexually active.

Merck could generate billions in sales if Gardasil -- at $360 for the
three-shot regimen -- were made mandatory across the country. Most insurance
companies now cover the vaccine, which has been shown to have no serious
side effects.

The New Jersey-based drug company is bankrolling efforts to pass state laws
across the country mandating Gardasil for girls as young as 11 or 12. It
doubled its lobbying budget in Texas and has funneled money through Women in
Government, an advocacy group made up of female state legislators around the
country.

Perry has ties to Merck and Women in Government. One of the drug company's
three lobbyists in Texas is Mike Toomey, Perry's former chief of staff. His
current chief of staff's mother-in-law, Texas Republican state Rep. Dianne
White Delisi, is a state director for Women in Government.

The governor also received $6,000 from Merck's political action committee
during his re-election campaign.

A top official from Merck's vaccine division sits on Women in Government's
business council, and many of the bills around the country have been
introduced by members of Women in Government.

Merck spokeswoman Janet Skidmore would not say how much the company is
spending on lobbyists or how much it has donated to Women in Government.
Susan Crosby, the group's president, also declined to specify how much the
drug company gave.

***

Other Helpful Articles and Links:
Indiana Legislature Guts HPV Vaccine Mandate Bill removing Mandate
http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=6017750&nav=9Tai

Maryland Legislature Pulls Down HPV Vaccine Mandate
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8N0GBQ80.htm

Michigan Legislature Defeats HPV Vaccine Mandate
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/122706/opi_2006122722.shtml

The American College of Pediatricians Oppose HPV Vaccine as a Mandate
http://www.acpeds.org/?CONTEXT=art&cat=10006&art=140&BISKIT=570127570

Governor Perry's Executive Order
http://www.governor.state.tx.us/divisions/press/exorders/rp65


-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dawn Richardson
PROVE(Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education)
prove@vaccineinfo.net (email)
http://vaccineinfo.net/ (web site)