We have been following what Jon Huntsman called the war on science in the GOP. Now Rep. Michele Bachmann has added to the attacks on global warming, evolution, environmental protections, and other scientific work with a claim that the leading anti-cancer vaccine given to little girls causes retardation. Experts responded with alarm that Bachmann’s comments could discourage families from giving children the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
During the last debate with Texas governor Rick Perry, Bachmann lashed him for his 2007 order to vaccinate young girls when “little girls . . . have a potentially dangerous reaction to this drug.” She explained part of her scientific research for this remarkable claim:
I had a mother last night come up to me here in Tampa after the debate. She told me that her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter. It can have very dangerous side effects.
While more than 35 million doses have been administered without such reports of dangers, Bachmann has triggered a debate over its safety. It could be a very damaging political attack if young girls are made more vulnerable to cancer.
Source: Guardian
Gardasil® Developer Claims Vaccine Prevents Abnormal Pap Tests, Not Cervical Cancer.
http://www.free-press-release.com/news-gardasil-developer-claims-vaccine-prevents-abnormal-pap-tests-not-cervical-cancer-1297697975.html
fwiw, some more anecdotal information: http://truthaboutgardasil.org/memorial/
Elaine, I’m not sure what the value of your last post was, that page comes across more as marketing material and isn’t nearly as specific or inclusive as the CDC VAERs page.
The FDA VAERS reports show that since last June, 235 cases detailed permanent disability. There were also 29 new cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and 147 cases of “spontaneous abortions,” or miscarriages, when the vaccine was given to pregnant women.
Moreover, 62 girls developed warts after receiving the vaccine. This development is of particular concern because Gardasil, which is designed to prevent two strains of genital warts, is not supposed to react with other HPV strains. However, not only did previously healthy women experience genital warts after the vaccination, but 21 girls developed warts on other areas, most commonly the face, hands and feet, and in one case, “all over her body.” (ID: 330671)
Of the 47 reported deaths, 41 occurred within a month of receiving the vaccine and of those 17 were within two weeks or receiving the vaccine. In most of the deaths the cause is still unknown.
“The FDA is supposed to be a guardian of public health, and yet the agency continues to turn a blind eye to what seems to be an extremely serious public health problem. The public relations push for Gardasil by Merck, politicians and public health officials needs to pause so that these adverse reactions can be further studied,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The already serious problems associated with Gardasil seem to be getting worse. No one should require this vaccine for young children.”
http://www.judicialwatch.org/news/2009/jun/new-fda-records-obtained-judicial-watch-indicate-28-deaths-related-gardasil-2008
From CDC
Possible Side-effects from Vaccines
What are the risks from HPV–Cervarix vaccine?
The HPV Cervarix® vaccine has been in use around the world for several years and has been very safe.
However, any medicine could possibly cause a serious problem, such as a severe allergic reaction. The risk of any vaccine causing a serious injury, or death, is extremely small.
Life-threatening allergic reactions from vaccines are very rare. If they do occur, it would be within a few minutes to a few hours after the vaccination.
Several mild to moderate problems are known to occur with this HPV vaccine. These do not last long and go away on their own.
Reactions where the shot was given
– Pain (about 9 people in 10)
– Redness or swelling (about 1 person in 2)
Other mild reactions
– Fever of 99.5 or higher degrees Fahrenheit (about 1 person in 8)
– Headache or fatigue (about 1 person in 2)
– Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or abdominal pain (about 1 person in 4)
– Muscle or joint pain (up to 1 person in 2)
Fainting
Brief fainting spells and related symptoms (such as jerking movements) can happen after any medical procedure, including vaccination. Sitting or lying down for about 15 minutes after a vaccination can help prevent fainting and injuries caused by falls. Tell your doctor if the patient feels dizzy or light-headed, or has vision changes or ringing in the ears.
Like all vaccines, HPV vaccines will continue to be monitored for unusual or severe problems.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/side-effects.htm#hpvcervarix
**********
What are the risks from HPV–Gardasil vaccine?
The HPV-Gardasil® vaccine has been used in the U.S. and around the world for several years and has been very safe.
However, any medicine could possibly cause a serious problem, such as a severe allergic reaction. The risk of any vaccine causing a serious injury, or death, is extremely small.
Life-threatening allergic reactions from vaccines are very rare. If they do occur, it would be within a few minutes to a few hours after the vaccination.
Several mild to moderate problems are known to occur with this HPV vaccine. These do not last long and go away on their own.
Reactions in the arm where the shot was given
– Pain (about 8 people in 10)
– Redness or swelling (about 1 person in 4)
Fever
– Mild (100° F) (about 1 person in 10)
– Moderate (102° F) (about 1 person in 65)
Other problems
– Headache (about 1 person in 3)
– Fainting. Brief fainting spells and related symptoms (such as jerking movements) can happen after any medical procedure, including vaccination. Sitting or lying down for about 15 minutes after a vaccination can help prevent fainting and injuries caused by falls. Tell your doctor if the patient feels dizzy or light-headed, or has vision changes or ringing in the ears.
Like all vaccines, HPV vaccines will continue to be monitored for unusual or severe problems.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/side-effects.htm#hpvgardasil
Who cares? This dingbat’s history.
“I had a mother last night come up to me here in Tampa after the debate. She told me that her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter. It can have very dangerous side effects.”
A reporter has taken Bachman to task,he says in his research there are no known cases of the medicine causing retardation.If anything there are signs that a reaction may occur such as a skin rash or something un alarming as that.
Then he said this statement has put her credibility on the line,they are also looking for the Mother who supposedly made that statement.Stay tuned.
Bachman’s relating Gardasil to retardation is itself retarded, but Gardasil itself is a woefully tested vaccine of dubious value.
Google Evilslutopia gardasil for one liberal female’s view of it.
It was also discussed yesterday at the Volokh Conspiracy: http://volokh.com/2011/09/13/bachmann-embraces-irresponsible-anti-vaccine-views
Perry should be taken to the coalshed over it, his mandate was mostly graft, and his mandate was also medically unnecessary as should have been considered assault if not unconstitutional.
Sometimes we should consider asking ourselves, is it really fair to make our kids guinea pigs in order to justify some pseudo feminist, pseudo liberal principle that mainly seems to be rewarding Big Pharma?
I hope Gardasil is the wonder vaccine it’s made out to be, but I believe that between now, when Gardasil is administered and the 20-40 years it will take these ten year olds to develop cervical cancer, that far better treatments will be created for cervical cancer, and so I do not understand the rush to get gardasil mandated without the long term testing we would require of other drugs.
Oh yeah, except *some* feminists somehow claim that not to do so is evidence of misogyny and how we want to control female bodies. And Big Pharma has nicely latched onto that.
But if someone can explain to me the medically necessary reasons for a *mandate*, and compare those reasons to the reasons for the other childhood vaccines we mandate as well, that would be appreciated.
““While more than 35 million doses have been administered without such reports of dangers””
Elaine M., for what it’s worth, Professor Turley’s statement is either inaccurate or needs clarification.
One personal anecdote with a terrible outcome
http://jenjensfamily.blogspot.com/
And of course, the CDC’s VAERS itself:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/vaccines/hpv/gardasil.html
Reports of Health Concerns Following HPV Vaccination
On this Page
VAERS Limitations
HPV Vaccine Safety
VAERS Reports Following Gardasil®
VAERS Reports Following Cervarix®
Summary
VAERS Limitations
VAERS data cannot be used to prove a causal association between the vaccine and the adverse event. The only association between the adverse event and vaccination is temporal, meaning that the adverse event occurred sometime after vaccination. Therefore, the adverse event may be coincidental or it may have been caused by vaccination, however we cannot make any conclusions that the events reported to VAERS were caused by the vaccine.
HPV Vaccine Safety
There are two licensed HPV vaccines, Gardasil® and Cervarix®, available to protect against the types of HPV infection that cause most cervical cancers. Gardasil® was licensed for use in females, age 9-26 years in June 2006 and for males age 9-26 years in Oct 2009. Cervarix® was licensed for use in females age 10-25 in October 2009.
The safety of HPV vaccines was studied in clinical trials worldwide before licensure. For Gardasil® , over 29,000 males and females participated in these trials. For Cervarix®, over 30,000 females participated in several clinical trials.
Since licensure, CDC and FDA have been closely monitoring the safety of HPV vaccines. There are 3 systems used to monitor the safety of vaccines after they are licensed and used in the U.S. These systems can monitor adverse events already known to be caused by vaccines, as well as detect rare adverse events that were not identified during pre-licensure clinical trials. The 3 systems are:
The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)–a useful early warning public health system that helps CDC and FDA detect possible side effects or adverse events following vaccination.
The Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) Project–a collaboration between CDC and 10 health care organizations which monitors and evaluates adverse events following vaccination.
The Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment (CISA) Network– a collaboration between6 academic centers in the U.S. which conduct research on adverse events that might be caused by vaccines.
Top of Page
Reports to VAERS Following Gardasil®
As of June 22, 2011, approximately 35 million doses of Gardasil® were distributed in the U.S. and VAERS received a total of 18,727 reports of adverse events following Gardasil® vaccination: 17,958 reports among females and 346 reports for males, of which 285 reports were received after the vaccine was licensed for males in October 2009. VAERS received 423 reports of unknown gender. Of the total number of VAERS reports following Gardasil®, 92% were considered to be non-serious, and 8% were considered serious.
Non-serious adverse event reports
VAERS defines non-serious adverse events as those other than hospitalization, death, permanent disability, or life-threatening illness.
The vast majority (92%) of the adverse events reports following Gardasil® vaccination have included fainting, pain, and swelling at the injection site (the arm), headache, nausea, and fever. Syncope (fainting) is common after injections and vaccinations, especially in adolescents. Falls after fainting may sometimes cause serious injuries, such as head injuries, which can be prevented by closely observing the person for 15 minutes after vaccination.
Serious adverse event reports
Any VAERS report that indicated hospitalization, permanent disability, life-threatening illness, congenital anomaly or death is classified as serious. As with all VAERS reports, serious events may or may not have been caused by the vaccine.
Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS)
Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) has been reported after vaccination with Gardasil® . GBS is a rare neurologic disorder that causes muscle weakness. It occurs in 1-2 out of every 100,000 people in their teens. A number of infections have been associated with GBS. There has been no indication that Gardasil® increases the rate of GBS above the rate expected in the general population, whether or not they were vaccinated.
Blood Clots
There have been some reports of blood clots in females after receiving Gardasil®. These clots have occurred in the heart, lungs, and legs. Most of these people had a risk of getting blood clots, such as taking oral contraceptives (the birth control pill), smoking, obesity, and other risk factors.
Deaths
As of June 22, 2011 there have been a total 68 VAERS reports of death among those who have received Gardasil® . There were 54 reports among females, 3 were among males, and 11 were reports of unknown gender. Thirty two of the total death reports have been confirmed and 36 remain unconfirmed due to no identifiable patient information in the report such as a name and contact information to confirm the report. A death report is confirmed (verified) after a medical doctor reviews the report and any associated records. In the 32 reports confirmed, there was no unusual pattern or clustering to the deaths that would suggest that they were caused by the vaccine and some reports indicated a cause of death unrelated to vaccination.
NoWay,
“Professor, You are either willfully ignorant or blatantly lying. There have been many reports filed on behalf of those suffering adverse side effects, up to, and including death.”
Can you provide information with proof about the adverse side affects and deaths caused by the HPV vaccines?
If you can be talented, at least be outrageous. That’s the result of the TV generation we spawned. Funny you never had this acceptance of foolishness when people had to read well-formed sentences for entertainment.
Elaine, They won’t be running mates. Perry is too clever. He will probably pick an hispanic such as Rubio. He picked up endorsements from Jindahl and Sandoval.
“She explained part of her scientific research for this remarkable claim”
Bachmann did not say that the statement made to her by the mother in Tampa was part of any scientific research.
“While more than 35 million doses have been administered without such reports of dangers”
No reports of dangers? No reports of severe adverse side effects?
Professor, You are either willfully ignorant or blatantly lying. There have been many reports filed on behalf of those suffering adverse side effects, up to, and including death.
Birth control pills have been made available to young girls without their parents knowledge or consent. These pills increase the susceptability to increased clotting. That increased clotting, when combined with the Gardasil injections is suspected to produce a wide range of side effects.
Gardasil may be a great drug. It may end up saving millions of lives. However, it is not a drug that prevents the transmission of a virus that would occur from casual contact. Government mandated injections of Gardasil, at this point in time, should be recognized as an intrusion (a potentially deadly one).
AY,
The perfect running mates: Perry and Bachmann. They could both wear T-shirts emblazoned with the words “I’m with stupid.”
Elaine,
I am pleased that you said that first….I would not want it to be inferred that I was a misogynist….
as Frankly said as well….It appears that they will certainly have an identifiable data base fo future voters…..
I think I head someone say that after Perry responded to the campaign contribution from the drug manufacture….that his response was “I can’t be bought for 5K….and Limbaugh stated that is true….But he could be bought for 28K….or something like that…
Frankly and Elaine hit the nail on the head. Bachmann is the poster child for outlandish lies and twisted logic. She should be ashamed of herself, but Teapublicans have no shame.
Bachmann landed one on Perry. I think it hurt him with this audience. He and she are competing for the same voters.
“Free Speech” people.
Lots of rewards for defending that oh-so-simplistic principle;
1. Citizens United.
2. Polarisation of the population.
3. False “balance” completely without critical thought in your media.
and related,
4. Potential “leaders” that might bring on a De-Enlightenment age.
From the (relative) sanity of Australia my friends in the USofA need;
Compulsory Preferential Voting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preferential_voting)
The good, mostly silent, but nearly sane majority are apathetic.
What is even more sad about this is Gov Good Hair has a financial stake in this law. The real crime, that a guy who hates science and pretends to want government to not interfere with your life but has no problem with forcing this vaccination with at least the appearance of a personal profit motive, goes unmentioned & uninvestigated. The anti-vax crowd had been pretty well discredited and in retreat. Leave it to Batshit Bachmann to breath life into their discredited superstition.
Frankly,
If it were true that the vaccine caused mental retardation, I’d say that Bachmann must have been vaccinated multiple times.
She should be in favor of this – the more mental retardation the larger the GOP voter registration.
Have you listened to the crowd comments after the recent CNN/teabagger debate? There was some serious brain damage on display in that group & the looooved them some Rick Perry.