The latest issue of Ms. Magazine has an unfortunate article (which unfortunately is not online) about the HPV vaccine. The gist of it is that the vaccine is good for women and anyone who opposes it (and they only acknowledge opposition that is based on fears that it will promote promiscuity) is anti-woman. Nowhere is there any mention that there are concerns about both the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine that have not yet been fully addressed or that Merck, the company that manufactures the vaccine, has provided very significant funding to many of the legislators that are pushing the vaccine.But that actually isn’t what this post is about. This last week there was more confirmation that hormone replacement therapy is probably responsible for a significant percentage of breast, endometrial and ovarian cancer deaths during several decades. According to the Washington Post , “An awful lot of breast cancer was caused by doctors’ prescriptions,” said Larry Norton of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. “That’s a very serious and sobering thought.”
I love Lucinda Marshall, founder of the Feminist Peace Network, who wrote this article. Read the whole thing. I have been a voice crying in the wilderness for DECADES now that in all likelihood, it is PRESCRIPTION HORMONES which are responsible for the huge rises in breast, ovarian, and uterine cancers in the United States and the UK. Women who have spent their lifetimes studying these connections have been saying precisely the same thing. Of course, we have to have a MALE DOCTOR admit to it before anybody takes it seriously, after who knows how many women have died.
Thanks so much, Lucinda, for all you do. I didn’t realize you were blogging and am adding you to the blogroll yesterday!
Along the same lines, from the Global Sisterhood Network, which I also love and can’t say enough good things about:
US: Sharp fall in breast cancer in 2003 linked to post-menopausal women’s decreased use of HRT
UK: Women taking HRT have increased risk of lethal cancers, stroke & thrombosis
Heart
Thank-you for posting this! I actually got furious the other day when I heard a report on the radio that scientists had just confirmed that hormone replacement therapy has significant health risks to wimmin. Radical feminists figured that out decades ago!!!!
And I’ve no doubt we will find that this HPV vaccine patriarchy is penetrating our daughters with will later be discovered to have more health risks than what it’s supposedly preventing.
I’m shocked by the Ms. position. To me the HPV issue is the same as the pro-choice issue: the government doesn’t have the right to dictate how I or other women or girls manage our health. I don’t oppose the vaccine but I oppose its being required for anyone.
I also saw that article in Ms., but though I was disappointed, I would not say I was surprised. Skepticism about vaccinations is rare even among feminists who should know better. However, I was disappointed and surprised by the National Women’s Health Network latest newsletter saying this:
http://www.nwhn.org/wha_marapr07_rxchange
Well-tested? Not dangerous? I beg to differ.
The last of the three articles about the UK HRT study at the Global Sisterhood Network link I excerpted in the Free Soil blog news last Thursday. Many women have been scared off HRT, but AFAIK millions of women are still taking it, convinced by their doctors it really is not that dangerous.
The Feminist Majority/Ms. Magazine Feminist Wire has a story today, Texas Votes to Block Mandatory HPV Vaccines, that also fails to mention any concerns. Instead, this:
http://www.msmagazine.com/news/uswirestory.asp?id=10275
That story also does not mention that the governor’s office has estimated that only 25% of young women in Texas would get the vaccine if it is not mandatory. I found that item, which I would think would be a clue that there are issues with this vaccine, in a USA Today story. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-03-14-hpv-vaccine_N.htm
If these were men, would the vaccine be mandatory? Why is there so much being done to my body by mainstream medicine, as a woman? Those are my questions.
Posted by Sis today and moved to this thread by me, Heart: Pardon the formatting, and move or delete if you wish Heart.
How the FDA caved once again and allowed MERCK to hide DEATHS caused to American FEMALE CHILDREN by GARDASIL:
From Pam Martens
“Why is Judicial Watch left to do the doing the heavy lifting while the NYT, National NOW and Legal Momentum are enablers to these human guinea pig medical experiments on children and young women.”
Look at the number of serious adverse events in the
new group. It works out to 19% of all reports being serious. That’s twice the normal rate for vaccines. And (…} 11 young women and girls are DEAD who did not need
this unproven drug. They only needed to stay current with their pap smears when they were old enough to need them. And how about the 42% of pregnant women
having adverse reactions, including spontaneous abortions. Remember, the FDA had data before it approved Gardasil showing an alarming rate of spontaneous abortions during the clinical trials. That data is right there on the FDA
web site.
We need to oust not just the Bush cabal but those Big
Pharma sycophants at National NOW and Legal Momentum.
Pam Martens
New Gardasil Adverse Event Reports
Judicial Watch Uncovers New FDA Records Detailing
Deaths in 1,824 Adverse Reaction Reports Related to HPV Vaccine
Judicial Watch Sues FDA for Producing “Partial Response” to {Freedom of Information Act} FOIA Request
http://www.judicialwatch.org/
http://www.standardnewswire.com/
– Judicial Watch, the public interest group that
investigates and
prosecutes government corruption, today released new
documents obtained
from the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the
provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act, detailing 1,824 reports of adverse
reactions to the
vaccination
for human papillomavirus (HPV), Gardasil, including
as many as eight deaths
related to the vaccine. Judicial Watch had previously
obtained 1,637
reports
relating to Gardasil on May 15, 2007, bringing the
known total to 3,461
adverse reactions including eleven deaths since FDA
approval. Among the new
information uncovered by Judicial Watch:
* “20-Jun-2007: Information has been
received…concerning a 17 year
old female who in June 2007…was vaccinated with a
first dose of
Gardasil…During the evening of the same day, the
patient was found
unconscious
(lifeless) by the mother. Resuscitation was performed
by the emergency
physician but
was unsuccessful. The patient subsequently died.”
* “12-Jun-2007: Information has been
received…concerning a 12 year
old female with a history of aortic and mitral valve
insufficiency…who on
01-MAR-2007 was vaccinated IM into the left arm with
a first does of
Gardasil…On 01-MAR-2007 the patient presented to
the ED with ventricular
tachycardia
and died.”
* “28-Aug-2007: Initial and follow-up
information has been received
from a physician concerning an “otherwise healthy” 13
year old female who
was vaccinated with her first and second doses of
Gardasil. Subsequently, the
patient experiencedŠparalysis from the chest down,
lesions of the optic
nerve…At the time of the report, the patient had
not recovered.”
From May 10 to September 7, 2007, the 1,824 adverse
vaccination reactions
reported to the FDA via the Vaccine Adverse Event
Reporting System (VAERS)
included 347 serious reactions. Of the 77 women who
received the vaccine while pregnant, 33 experienced side effects ranging from spontaneous abortion to
fetal abnormities. Other serious side effects
continue to be reported
including,
paralysis, Bells Palsy, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and
seizures.
“In light of this information, it is disturbing that
state and local
governments might mandate in any way this vaccine for
young girls,” said
Judicial
Watch President Tom Fitton. “These adverse reaction
reports suggest the
vaccine
not only causes serious side effects, but might even
be fatal.”
Judicial Watch filed its request on August 20, 2007,
and received the
adverse event reports from the FDA on September, 13
2007.
(On October 3, 2007,
Judicial Watch filed a new lawsuit against the FDA
for its failure to fully
respond to Judicial Watch’s FOIA request as required
by law.) Judicial
Watch has
posted its lawsuit and the adverse event reports and
deaths reported to
VAERS
on its Internet site, _www.judicialwatch.org_
(http://www.judicialwatch.org/) .
I’ve been searching HERE for answers to my questions regarding this “vaccine.” Heart do you have any updates? Cancer runs rampant in my family and I’m looking into this to see the negative, all I’ve been hearing is how great it is for women and yaddi yaddi yah.
Article excerpts and link deleted because women more well versed than I am say it’s lacking. — Heart
Sounds like you have looked very deeply into this, however, your conclusions are lacking some important information. When you say that the FDA is acknowledging that HPV does not cause cervical cancer…that is way out of context. There are several types of HPV, some of which are precursors to cervical cancer. Many people have or will become infected with HPV but these infections can clear up and the immune system can keep the virus in check without further damage. While not all people with HPV will get cervical cancer, nearly 100% of cervical cancer is preceded by infection of high-rish HPV types (16, 18, etc..). While I am skeptical as well of the way the vaccine has been promoted by Merck- please don’t mislead people about proven disease sequelae. Cervical cancer is caused by HPV…this is not an FDA conspriracy.
I am as opposed to the HPV vaccine as anyone, but this article disturbs me. I think it gets some of the facts wrong and puts a misleading spin on others. For instance, the very first sentence says Gardasil has been marketed and mandated for several years. Several is a vague term, but FDA approved Gardasil on June 8, 2006. There certainly were no mandates in place at that time. Texas governor Rick Perry tried to initiate the first state mandate less than a year ago. I am sorry, this is not several years. Also, many of the so-called revelations in that article are not things FDA ever tried to hide. In fact, the only revelation that was news to me was the increase in precancerous lesions in women already exposed to HPV. I appreciate Mr. Adams trying to bring out some of the problems with Gardasil which the public at large may not know, but exaggerating the case helps nobody.
Aletha and Laura, thanks, I deleted the excerpts and link because sounds like they are lacking. I didn’t have time to read carefully and mostly checked to make sure the website was, in general, coming from a good, consumer-friendly place.
Do one of you have an update? I got one via e-mail a while ago and couldn’t find it looking for it yesterday. Maybe I’ll look again.
apparently, gardasil has gained a reputation as being extraordinarily painful, and its trend of causing fainting has continued:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/01/03/painful.shot.ap/index.html
eek, i had a comment, and then it went away, what happened?
Once again the lies from the Big Pharma come out. Does it really surprise you that this new drug causes pain and fucked up side effects?
i am furious with the gov’ts aproval as well as the doctor that administered this hpv vaccination to my daughter. our lives have completely changed to sleepness nights since…it is amazing how loyal doctors are to this drug..i can’t seem to find one doctor (female or male) that will admit all my daughter’s current pain is associated with the hpv vaccination. i am scared and don’t know where to turn to .