[back] Gardasil

by Casey Cohen

HPV Truth http://www.hpvtruth.org/

I'm a young woman concerned about my health, about preventing illness, and about the well being of young women everywhere. With these concerns in mind, I looked into Merck pharmaceutical company's new product, Gardasil, a vaccine that claims to prevent cervical cancer by preventing infection with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).

Experts say HPV is a sexually transmitted disease that may cause some forms of cervical cancer. The concept behind the Gardasil vaccine is that if women avoid HPV infection, they will avoid developing the forms of cancer HPV is thought to cause.

Gardasil works by introducing “dead” HPV virus into our bodies through series of three injections that cause us to produce HPV antibodies. It is believed that these antibodies will protect us from contracting HPV if it is passed on to us during sexual intercourse.

After reading up on HPV and Gardasil, I have a lot of questions. For example:

• How do we know the HPV vaccine prevents cervical cancer if girls get shots at age nine as recommended, but don't become sexually active for another 10 or more years?
• Since most cases of cervical cancer in the US appear in women over age 35, and the vaccine was tested for only four years, how did Merck prove Gardasil works?
• If HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, why is there no HPV test for men?
• If there are no HPV tests for men, how can experts claim millions of men have HPV?
• Why do most abnormal Pap smears indicating HPV infection become normal with further testing---and without any treatment for HPV?
• If only .0055% of American females are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year, does it make sense to give 100% of all women in the US vaccines of unknown safety and efficacy?*

I believe that you and I have a right to receive answers to these questions so we can make an informed choice about the Gardasil HPV vaccine. In searching for answers, what I've found so far is that leading experts on HPV and Gardasil are either unwilling or unable to provide them. Not even when offered money for their time and trouble.

The following exchange between me and Dr Richard Frieder is one example of an expert that wouldn't answer questions about HPV and Gardasil, even though he's an outspoken advocate of the vaccine ­ and not even when I offered $2,500 for his time!

I'm a working mother of two and not the type of person to hand out thousands of dollars in exchange for a photocopy of a medical study, but I really wanted some answers. If you have or can find the answers that Dr. Frieder didn't provide, please send them on. I will be glad to make a donation in your name to any of the women's charities linked to at this site.

With appreciation and in solidarity,
Casey Cohen
weekendvegan@hotmail.com