State Overstepping? Required STD shots worry some parents

[Woodmonkey]

Texas governor orders cervical cancer vaccine for schoolgirls


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.

Bankrolling state laws
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.

The Source

[BrianK]

Originally Posted by Woodmonkey

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.

I took out the peripheral issues of religion, & possible conflict of interest in campaign donations. My focus is on the portion of the sentence which makes this claim.

[has been shown to have no serious side effects.]

For how many children will there be no serious side effects? How many could experience severe side effects. Is this a bean counters measure against prevention?

Then there is the question in my mind about how long this has been tested & on what test group. I haven't heard of any large group of 40 to 50 yr. old women coming forward explaining they were given these shots when they were pre teen. I don't know if there has been enough research to mandate innoculations.

What about conflict with other meds? Who knows what new flu will pop up that this vacine may not blend well with some kids metabolism?

Mandatory with the ability to file reasons for no innoculation IMO is backwards. Parents should have total say about what goes into their childrens bodies.

[Woodmonkey]

In this poll you can choose more than one option.

[Snowden]

There are so many possibilities in new medicines or vaccines - possible side effects. The state should recommend, but should not have the authority to order parents to give it to their children.

[leobold1]

I personally plan to get my daughter this shot when she is old enough, Executive Order or no. And I encourage everyone to do the same. The health benefits from it (especially in a cancer family like mine) outweigh the risks.

But, being forced to do it is completely wrong. What I choose for my daughter is my business, not the State of Texas. I've already filed my objection to it, even if that means I have to pay for it out of pocket.