Rick Perry's Gardasil Problem

[warrior1]

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/06/04/rick_perrys_gardasil_problem_110089.html

snip

But in Texas, Gov. Perry chose to bypass the legislature and on Feb. 2, 2007, he issued an executive order making Texas the first state in the country requiring all sixth-grade girls to receive the three-shot vaccination series (which cost about $120 per shot). The move generated a fierce public debate. Conservatives slammed Perry for promoting what they saw as an intrusion by the state into private health decisions of parents and their children. Some also complained that the mandate would encourage promiscuity among teenagers.

snip

[sakabatou]

1. Because preventing cervical cancer = promiscuity

Ugh...

[Ilsa]

5. Yeah, just like driving with a seat belt on encourages us to wreck our cars. nt

[KittyWampus]

19. 12 year old girls' bodies spontaneously rid themselves of the virus. It's women over 18-20

that the vaccine is actually necessary.

[Ilsa]

2. Texas now has an easy opt-out for parents to sign if they don't want

their daughters to get the shot. The ultra-conservatives got what they wanted, and so did the pharmaceutical company that wants to make millions on the vax.

[Dennis Donovan]

3. In my eyes, his stock just went up... slightly...

[Richardo]

9. Speaking of stock....

His former Chief-of Staff was the lobbyist for Merck, maker of the vaccine. That's the only stock that matters.

[mzmolly]

16. I'm sure that had nothing to do with his

decision in this regard. :sarcasm:

[indurancevile]

18. +1.

[KittyWampus]

20. It shouldn't 12 yr old girls don't need the vaccine-their bodies get rid of the virus spontaneously

It's value is for women over 18.

[Firebrand Gary]

4. Texas advocates everything BIG, including BIG GOVERNMENT.

[Richardo]

6. The pertinent details: Merck says 'jump', Perry says "where's the cliff?"

The paragraph before the OP:

In January 2007, Gardasil was put on the "recommended" immunization schedule issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control. Merck immediately mounted a massive lobbying effort of state legislatures around the country to get Gardasil added to their respective lists of state-mandated vaccines.

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Three paragraphs after the OP:

The controversy over Perry's decision deepened as it came to light that his former chief of staff was a lobbyist for Merck and that his chief of staff's mother-in-law, Rep. Dianne White Delisi, was the state director of an advocacy group bankrolled by Merck to push legislatures across the country to put forward bills mandating the Gardasil vaccine for preteen girls.

It really is all about girls' health, isn't it? Um, No.

[KamaAina]

7. He kind of had to do that

In Texas, the ONLY way the state will pay for a vax is if it is mandatory. If he hadn't made it so, the families would have had to shell out the $360 out of pocket, since most insurance doesn't cover it, and about a third of Texans are uninsured anyway (the nation's highest).

edit: All this made it MUCH easier for him to do Merck's bidding, as outlined above.

[pnwmom]

12. No, he did NOT have to do that when the vaccine had only been on the market

for a few months. The way the system is designed, adverse effects of drugs and vaccines often don't show up until a product has been on the open market for a while, outside of a carefully monitored research environment. But the reason he mandated early was because he had personal connections to the manufacturer. A second manufacturer was going to be marketing their vaccine a short time later, and the first one wanted to get the jump on the second. Perry's mandate would have helped with this.

I also think that when a disease can't be spread through casual contact it should be up to the parents whether their child has a vaccine. This isn't like whooping cough or TB. No one is going to catch this by sitting next to someone in a classroom.

[KamaAina]

14. He had to do it IF he wanted the state to pay for it

which managed to make him look fair-minded while fattening Merck's coffers at the same time.

And your last point is well taken indeed.

[DCKit]

8. Where did they find the money for that program? Did they cut out one of the three R's? nt

[Turbineguy]

10. Encouraging promiscuity among teenagers?

When did that become hard work?

[blogslut]

11. A greedy self-serving move by Goodhair

From the http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/02/AR2007020201528.html">Washington Post:

Merck 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...

[pnwmom]

13. Absolutely. n/t

[mzmolly]

15. The actual argument against Perry helping big pharma profit

from a new vaccine, is the fact that researchers were not comfortable with mandated use, for the age group in question.

[Horse with no Name]

17. This is actually one of the few things that I agreed with him on

even here on the DU.

By MANDATING Gardisal, it forced Medicaid and the insurance companies to pay for a very expensive--otherwise uncovered--immunization. It was VERY easy to opt out of.

[sense]

21. We shouldn't be requiring vaccines

when we don't have the whole story and we don't understand what we're being coerced into subjecting our kids to. Here's the latest:

http://healthimpactnews.com/2011/the-united-nations-invites-mark-geier-md-to-lead-the-charge-against-the-vaccine-industry/