harrisonsdream
02-02-2007, 07:21 PM
Perry orders anti-cancer vaccine for schoolgirls
By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON
Associated Press
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Gardasil AT A GLANCE
HOW IT WORKS: Gardasil blocks infection by four common strains of human papilloma virus or HPV, which can cause cervical cancer many years after infection. HPV, which eventually infects over half of all sexually active people, also causes genital warts.
CANCER CASES: On average, there are 9,710 new cases of cervical cancer and 3,700 deaths in the U.S. each year. Worldwide, cervical cancer is the No. 2 cancer in women, causing over 470,000 new cases and 233,000 deaths a year.
WHO SHOULD GET IT: Medical groups recommend routine vaccination for girls ages 11 and 12, and say it can be given to girls as young as 9 and up to 18. It is approved for women up to age 26.
ADMINISTRATION: Three doses, given over six months.
COST: $360 price for the three doses required
INSURANCE: Merck, which says Gardasil is covered by 96 percent of insurance plans, recently added Gardasil and its other adult vaccines to its patient assistance program.
EFFECTIVENESS: Manufacturer Merck & Co. says Gardasil prevents 99 percent of infections by two HPV strains that cause about 70 percent of cervical cancer and two strains that cause most genital warts.
SALES SO FAR: $235 million, mostly in the United States.
WHAT'S NEXT: Merck is completing testing of Gardasil on women ages 26 to 45 and will apply for approval for those groups by year's end; it is testing it in young males and could seek approval in 2008.
COMPETITION: Rival drug maker GlaxoSmithKline is developing its own vaccine, Cervarix, and could seek approval this year.
———
Sources: Merck & Co., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Cancer Institute.
AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry signed an order today making Texas the first state to require that schoolgirls be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.
By issuing an executive order, Perry apparently sidesteps opposition in the Legislature from conservatives and parents' rights groups who fear such a requirement would condone premarital sex and interfere with the way parents raise their children.
Beginning in September 2008, girls entering the sixth grade will have to get Gardasil, Merck & Co.'s new vaccine against strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV.
Perry, a conservative Christian who opposes abortion and stem-cell research using embryonic cells, counts on the religious right for his political base. But he has said the cervical cancer vaccine is no different from the one that protects children against polio.
"The HPV vaccine provides with with an incredible opportunity to effectively target and prevent cervical cancer," Perry said in announcing the order.
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 several 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.
Perry also received $6,000 from Merck's political action committee during his re-election campaign.
Parents can have their daughters opt out of the inoculations by filing an objection on religious or other philosophical grounds. Even with such provisions, however, conservative groups say such requirements interfere with parents' rights to make medical decisions for their children.
The federal government approved Gardasil in June, and a government advisory panel has recommended that all girls get the shots at 11 and 12, before they are likely to be sexually active.
The vaccine is too new to know how long protection will last, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Studies have followed women for five years and found that they are still protected. More research is being done to find out how long protection will last, and if a booster vaccine is needed years later.
That uncertainty adds to conservatives' oppositon.
The New Jersey-based drug company could generate billions in sales if Gardasil — at $360 for the three-shot regimen — were made mandatory across the country. Most insurance companies now cover the vaccine, which has been shown to have no serious side effects.
Merck spokeswoman Janet Skidmore would not say how much the company is spending on lobbyists or how much it has donated to Women in Government. Susan Crosby, the group's president, also declined to specify how much the drug company gave.
A top official from Merck's vaccine division sits on Women in Government's business council, and many of the bills around the country have been introduced by members of Women in Government
_________________________________________________________________
i think this is a good idea being as tx has a high rate of unplanned teen pregnancy which in turn suggests that there is a high rate of unprotected sex which in turn leads to the risk of higher risk of STD's. i know when i have a daughter she sure as sh!t is getting it.
By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON
Associated Press
TOOLS
Email Get section feed
Print Subscribe NOW
RESOURCES
related links
School Zone: Got a spare $360?
Vaccine's price, insurance problems limit patient access
Gardasil AT A GLANCE
HOW IT WORKS: Gardasil blocks infection by four common strains of human papilloma virus or HPV, which can cause cervical cancer many years after infection. HPV, which eventually infects over half of all sexually active people, also causes genital warts.
CANCER CASES: On average, there are 9,710 new cases of cervical cancer and 3,700 deaths in the U.S. each year. Worldwide, cervical cancer is the No. 2 cancer in women, causing over 470,000 new cases and 233,000 deaths a year.
WHO SHOULD GET IT: Medical groups recommend routine vaccination for girls ages 11 and 12, and say it can be given to girls as young as 9 and up to 18. It is approved for women up to age 26.
ADMINISTRATION: Three doses, given over six months.
COST: $360 price for the three doses required
INSURANCE: Merck, which says Gardasil is covered by 96 percent of insurance plans, recently added Gardasil and its other adult vaccines to its patient assistance program.
EFFECTIVENESS: Manufacturer Merck & Co. says Gardasil prevents 99 percent of infections by two HPV strains that cause about 70 percent of cervical cancer and two strains that cause most genital warts.
SALES SO FAR: $235 million, mostly in the United States.
WHAT'S NEXT: Merck is completing testing of Gardasil on women ages 26 to 45 and will apply for approval for those groups by year's end; it is testing it in young males and could seek approval in 2008.
COMPETITION: Rival drug maker GlaxoSmithKline is developing its own vaccine, Cervarix, and could seek approval this year.
———
Sources: Merck & Co., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Cancer Institute.
AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry signed an order today making Texas the first state to require that schoolgirls be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.
By issuing an executive order, Perry apparently sidesteps opposition in the Legislature from conservatives and parents' rights groups who fear such a requirement would condone premarital sex and interfere with the way parents raise their children.
Beginning in September 2008, girls entering the sixth grade will have to get Gardasil, Merck & Co.'s new vaccine against strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV.
Perry, a conservative Christian who opposes abortion and stem-cell research using embryonic cells, counts on the religious right for his political base. But he has said the cervical cancer vaccine is no different from the one that protects children against polio.
"The HPV vaccine provides with with an incredible opportunity to effectively target and prevent cervical cancer," Perry said in announcing the order.
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 several 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.
Perry also received $6,000 from Merck's political action committee during his re-election campaign.
Parents can have their daughters opt out of the inoculations by filing an objection on religious or other philosophical grounds. Even with such provisions, however, conservative groups say such requirements interfere with parents' rights to make medical decisions for their children.
The federal government approved Gardasil in June, and a government advisory panel has recommended that all girls get the shots at 11 and 12, before they are likely to be sexually active.
The vaccine is too new to know how long protection will last, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Studies have followed women for five years and found that they are still protected. More research is being done to find out how long protection will last, and if a booster vaccine is needed years later.
That uncertainty adds to conservatives' oppositon.
The New Jersey-based drug company could generate billions in sales if Gardasil — at $360 for the three-shot regimen — were made mandatory across the country. Most insurance companies now cover the vaccine, which has been shown to have no serious side effects.
Merck spokeswoman Janet Skidmore would not say how much the company is spending on lobbyists or how much it has donated to Women in Government. Susan Crosby, the group's president, also declined to specify how much the drug company gave.
A top official from Merck's vaccine division sits on Women in Government's business council, and many of the bills around the country have been introduced by members of Women in Government
_________________________________________________________________
i think this is a good idea being as tx has a high rate of unplanned teen pregnancy which in turn suggests that there is a high rate of unprotected sex which in turn leads to the risk of higher risk of STD's. i know when i have a daughter she sure as sh!t is getting it.