Bizarre, Politics, Society

Bachmann Attacks Perry For Giving Girls Anti-Cancer Vaccine . . . And Retardation

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

112 thoughts on “Bachmann Attacks Perry For Giving Girls Anti-Cancer Vaccine . . . And Retardation”

  1. Elaine:

    “Then why do so many conservatives want to ban gay/lesbian marriages? What about the right-wingers who are looking to put restrictions on the rights of women?”

    Not all of us do. I think most of that is from the religious wing of the party. I dont think much of them either, same mentality as progressives.

  8. Again:

    “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.”

  9. “I wonder about Perry’s motives to mandate that young girls in Texas be required to have the HPV vaccine. Do you believe Bachmann’s claim that the vaccine causes mental retardation is based on fact?”

    I think Perry was clearly paid off (directly and indirectly) by Merck.

    I think Bachmann’s retarded claim is based on her own retardation.

    I support a non-mandatory gardasil, I support outreach programs with doctors and scientists to inform parents and kids regarding gardasil, I support making insurance companies pay for gardasil,

    I don’t support government mandated opt-out vaccines except for diseases that can cause pandemics, are extremely hazardous if not treated quickly (e.g. meningitis) to the child, are hazardous to the fetus or pregnant or other people that school aged kids might be expected to be around.

    These are the classes of diseases that vaccines used to be mandated for. I dislike and do not understand how we move from an understanding of what is truly medically necessary to just medically nice.

    While I understand why herd immunity is important, I do not see it as so overwhelmingly important that it overrides personal bodily sovereignty.

    While I generally trust and admire doctors and scientists, we’ve/they’ve made enough mistakes medically, scientifically, ethically as to make me suspicious of their saying “just trust us”. In particular, I am pretty upset with doctors that now will refuse to take on children whose parents opt out of vaccinations.

    Will cardiologists refuse to see patients that eat at Five Guys or who still smoke? Would that be considered ethical of a cardiologist?

    Given the time between vaccination at 10 years, and the median age of cervical cancer at 48 years, I do not see the rush to mandate or even encourage this vaccine until long term studies can be done. The main reason being that in the next 20-30-40 years before these kids get cervical cancer, I would expect medicine and science to come up with even better treatments.

    I don’t understand how the liberal progressive position shifted from government off our bodies out of our bedrooms to government mandated vaccines with dubious opt-out clauses and threat of CPS intervention.

  10. Roco – I believe Democrats care about PEOPLE, and helping those in need, which of course, takes money. What do we have a government for if it’s not to help people live a good life? Shouldn’t people have someone to turn to in hard times? When a person loses a job or gets sick or is a victim of a hurricane or tornado, would you rather the government turn a blind eye and instead, spend more money on war?

    We all hear about Welfare Queens and Professional Ne’er-do-wells, but those are easy apocryphal stories that bolster the arguments of the conservatives who don’t want America using funds for social programs. The majority of the people in need are actually in dire straits, and it’s the duty of a country to take care of them.

    As for Rick Perry’s vaccine program, it was initiated solely for personal gain (money) and not for some altruistic desire to help the teenaged girls of Texas. He was highly influenced (money) to make a decision that would help his cronies and himself.

  12. Roco,

    “Only difference is we dont force stuff on other people and that is why Perry isnt a conservative.”

    Then why do so many conservatives want to ban gay/lesbian marriages? What about the right-wingers who are looking to put restrictions on the rights of women?

    *****

    Redefining When Life Begins: A Post about Personhood USA and Legislative Bills That Could Make the Use of Some Contraceptives Illegal
    http://jonathanturley.org/2011/06/11/redefining-when-life-begins-a-post-about-personhood-usa-and-legislative-bills-that-could-make-the-use-of-some-contraceptives-illegal/

    *****

    The Right’s War on Women Continues…at the State Level
    http://jonathanturley.org/2011/02/19/the-rights-war-on-women-continues-at-the-state-level/

  13. anon,

    I think it best to look at all the information available on the vaccines. These HPV vaccines are relatively new. I don’t have a lot of background knowledge on them.

    I wonder about Perry’s motives to mandate that young girls in Texas be required to have the HPV vaccine. Do you believe Bachmann’s claim that the vaccine causes mental retardation is based on fact?

  14. Rick Perry, Merck, Gardasil, and How Lobbying Works
    http://thinkprogress.org/yglesias/2011/09/13/318295/rick-perry-merck-gardasil-and-how-lobbying-works/

    One of the funniest moments in last night’s debate was when Rick Perry denied that he’d been bribed into issuing an executive order mandating the use of HPV vaccines by arguing “If you’re saying that I can be bought for $5,000, I’m offended.” Everyone knows that it takes at least $50,000 to bribe the governor of Texas.

    Still, I think Kevin Drum is perhaps a bit too quick to dismiss the cash nexus here when he says “It’s vanishingly unlikely that Merck’s five grand played any real role in Perry’s decision.” It’s almost certainly true that you can’t bribe Perry for $5,000 but I think it’s vanishingly unlikely that Perry’s decision wasn’t seriously influenced by the fact that Perry was lobbied on the issue by his former chief of staff who just so happens to have gone to work for Merck. The $5,000 in question came several months before the decision was made, but on the exact same day that Perry got a visit from Mike Toomey.

    I’d say there are two main factors behind Perry’s decision. One is that the call is very defensible on the merits, so when the aide-turned-lobbyist shows up with $5,000 and an argument on behalf of his client he actually has a strong argument. The other is that the argument is being made by a former chief of staff! After all, there are lots of perfectly good ideas that Perry rejects either due to small government principles or social conservative principles. It takes a well-connected guy to get Perry to put that kind of thing aside, but the connection, rather than the money is what’s doing the work. If Merck sent me and a $5,000 check it wouldn’t accomplish anything. The relevance of the money most likely goes in the other direction. Merck has a professional relationship with a guy who has a professional relationship with Rick Perry. It is thus in the interests of both Merck and of Toomey to see that Rick Perry has a successful political career. The contribution of $5,000 is exactly what Merck would say it is—a sincere effort to promote the career of a politician who they want to see succeed. It’s not a bribe. Paying Perry $5,000 would be neither necessary nor sufficient to get him to do what they want.

    *****

    Rick Perry’s Ties With Merck Run Deep
    http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/5546651.html

  15. Elaine:

    but progressives do force a lot of stuff on use for our own good. So are you saying that all progressives are in bed with some industry?

    Like smoking, they are in bed with people who sell smokeless cigarettes.
    Transfat-in bed with people who produce olive oil.
    Beef-in bed with the poultry producers. [Clinton and Tysons]
    Sex ed – in bed with condom producers.

    I get it Elaine, progressives dont care about anything but money. Thanks for pointing that out to me.

    Always follow the money. Now I understand progressives better, they actually dont give a hoot about society and are just as interested in money as us money “grubbing” conservatives. Only difference is we dont force stuff on other people and that is why Perry isnt a conservative. He was a democrat, I guess old habits die hard.

  16. Elaine, I think I understand that, which is why I included it in my post. Regardless, within its limitations, the VAERS system outlines thousands of cases of gardasil incidents that directly contradict the CDC marketing page.

    What your post and the CDC marketing pages asks us to do is just ignore the VAERS entirely, as if the CDC wants to completely ignore the data they collect (they were IIRC legislatively required to set up that database).

    So it’s like Professor Turley and the CDC and you saying, who should we believe, the CDC or our lying eyes and coming up with the answer: the CDC and there were no adverse effects reported.

    Elaine, if this were DOD, would you come up with the same result?

    In fact, elsewhere at the CDC, they describe the importance of the VAERS.

    Background and Public Health Importance

    The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) is a national vaccine safety surveillance program co-sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). VAERS is a post-marketing safety surveillance program that collects information about adverse events (possible side effects) that occur after the administration of vaccines licensed for use in the United States.

    The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) of 1986 requires health professionals and vaccine manufacturers to report to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) specific adverse events that occur after the administration of routinely recommended vaccines. In response to NCVIA, CDC and FDA established VAERS in 1990 (Chen, Vaccine, 1994).

    VAERS has demonstrated its public health importance by providing health scientists with signals about possible adverse events following immunization. In one instance, VAERS detected reports for intussusception over that what would be expected to occur by chance alone after the RotaShield rotavirus vaccine in 1999. Epidemiologic studies confirmed an increased risk, and these data contributed to the product’s removal from the US market. In another example, VAERS determined that there may be a potential for a small increase in risk for Guillain-Barre’ syndrome (GBS) after the meningococcal conjugate vaccine, Menactra. As a result of this finding, a history of GBS became a contraindication to the vaccine and further controlled studies are currently underway to research this issue.

  17. Roco,

    Roco,

    “If this is the way he is going to operate he is nothing but a progressive in respectable attire.”

    A progressive? I’d say he may just be another politician taking money from a pharmaceutical company.

    *****

    Perry’s Merck Donations Raise Questions About Vaccine Mandate
    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/09/14/bloomberg1376-LRHGBP6KLVR701-6EG09OS11J0IBG3CMPVL8U3BIG.DTL

    Excerpts:
    Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) — Texas Governor Rick Perry ‘s decision to require pre-teen girls to be vaccinated against a virus that causes cervical cancer has ignited debate over whether the presidential hopeful used his office to do favors for political allies.

    Perry, who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, received at least $23,500 in campaign contributions from drug-maker Merck & Co., including $5,000 in 2006, the year before he ordered girls throughout the state to take a new Merck vaccine. The drug-maker also has donated about $500,000 to the Republican Governors Association, a group which Perry headed twice and has been among his most generous campaign donors.

    *****

    In addition to the political donations, Perry’s ties to the company have come under scrutiny because he issued the vaccination mandate at a time when his former chief of staff was working for the Texas Lobby Group, which was retained by Merck.

  18. Perry is a jack ass for mandating this sort of vaccine. Polio/measles etc he may have had a point for the safety of other children. But not so much for this.

    Hopefully he will not win the nomination. If this is the way he is going to operate he is nothing but a progressive in respectable attire.

  19. anon,

    VAERS Data
    Guide to Interpreting VAERS Case Report Information
    http://vaers.hhs.gov/data/index

    When evaluating data from VAERS, it is important to note that for any reported event, no cause-and-effect relationship has been established. Reports of all possible associations between vaccines and adverse events (possible side effects) are filed in VAERS. Therefore, VAERS collects data on any adverse event following vaccination, be it coincidental or truly caused by a vaccine. The report of an adverse event to VAERS is not documentation that a vaccine caused the event.
    VAERS data contains coincidental events and those truly caused by vaccines.

    More than 10 million vaccines per year are given to children less than 1 year old, usually between 2 and 6 months of age. At this age, infants are at greatest risk for certain medical adverse events, including high fevers, seizures, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Some infants will experience these medical events shortly after a vaccination by coincidence.

    These coincidences make it difficult to know whether a particular adverse event resulted from a medical condition or from a vaccination. Therefore, vaccine providers are encouraged to report all adverse events following vaccination, whether or not they believe the vaccination was the cause.

    Please read the following statement on the limits of VAERS data. You MUST click on the box below to access the VAERS database.

    When reviewing data from VAERS, please keep in mind the following limitations:

    VAERS is a passive reporting system, meaning that reports about adverse events are not automatically collected, but require a report to be filed to VAERS. VAERS reports can be submitted voluntarily by anyone, including healthcare providers, patients, or family members. Reports vary in quality and completeness. They often lack details and sometimes can have information that contains errors.

    “Underreporting” is one of the main limitations of passive surveillance systems, including VAERS. The term, underreporting refers to the fact that VAERS receives reports for only a small fraction of actual adverse events. The degree of underreporting varies widely. As an example, a great many of the millions of vaccinations administered each year by injection cause soreness, but relatively few of these episodes lead to a VAERS report. Physicians and patients understand that minor side effects of vaccinations often include this kind of discomfort, as well as low fevers. On the other hand, more serious and unexpected medical events are probably more likely to be reported than minor ones, especially when they occur soon after vaccination, even if they may be coincidental and related to other causes.

    A report to VAERS generally does not prove that the identified vaccine(s) caused the adverse event described. It only confirms that the reported event occurred sometime after vaccine was given. No proof that the event was caused by the vaccine is required in order for VAERS to accept the report. VAERS accepts all reports without judging whether the event was caused by the vaccine.

    DISCLAIMER: Please note that VAERS staff follow-up on all serious and other selected adverse event reports to obtain additional medical, laboratory, and/or autopsy records to help understand the concern rose. However, in general coding terms in VAERS do not change based on the information received during the follow-up process. VAERS data should be used with caution as numbers and conditions do not reflect data collected during follow-up. Note that the inclusion of events in VAERS data does not infer causality. See the following section to review cautions in the interpretation of this data.

    **********

    Woosty,

    I wonder about Perry’s motives for mandating the vaccine too.

  20. the rush to get gardasil mandated….

    http://www.bukisa.com/articles/327446_gardasil-the-truth-behind-the-vaccine-mandate

    ‘Gardasil has only been available since June 2006, as such, it is still a relatively new vaccine. The long-term effects of this drug are still unknown as subjects were only followed for five years. It is, however, known that Gardasil contains a high amount of aluminum, which in such doses, is found to cause neurological damage to animals.

    ‘Perhaps it is time to examine what might have prompted Governor Perry to allow the vaccine’s experimentation on so many young girls. At the time of Governor Perry’s decision, Merck had been lobbying for the mandate of the vaccine to all sixth grade girls in the United States, a move that would rake in huge profits for the company. Could it then be a coincidence that Mike Toomey, one of Merck’s Texas lobbyists, also happens to be Governor Perry’s former chief of staff?

    mandate: so is Perry against the ‘Healthcare Mandate’ ?

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