Back to School Tip for Moms and Dads

With kids needing annual physicals to play sports in junior high and high school, it’s time for that annual trek to the doctor’s office. And many parents will be confronted with a recommendation that they have their daughter or son vaccinated with Gardasil while they’re there. What parent doesn’t want to protect his child from a virus that can cause cancer? That’s what Meredith Prohaska’s mom thought. So here’s a tragic but timely reminder of why you should just say “NO!”

Meredith Prohaska (age 12) loved sports – especially basketball and swimming. She was in excellent health and spirits (except for a slight cough) when her mom took her to the doctor’s office for a check-up on August 8.

A few hours later she was dead.

What happened? The doctor recommended that Meredith get the first (of three) Gardasil injections to reduce her risk of getting a type of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection that can cause cervical cancer. He was right about one thing: Meredith is no longer at risk of getting cervical cancer in 20-30 years.

She’s not the only healthy pre-teen who died within hours, weeks or months after being vaccinated with Gardasil. The U.S. media has been virtually silent about the number and severity of “adverse events” reportedly associated with Gardasil. The CDC, FDA and Merck, the vaccine’s manufacturer, have pooh-poohed any suggestion that Gardasil may have “caused” the number of deaths and disabilities reported to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS). And it’s true that the VAERS system is not designed to provide enough information to ascertain the precise cause of death. Many Gardasil-related adverse events may be simply coincidental; others – such as Guillain Barré, autoimmune disorders and blood clots – are reasonably linked to the vaccination. 

There is, however, at least an implicit recognition that bad things can sometimes happen to good people who get Gardasil shots. By law, vaccine manufacturers are shielded from private lawsuits brought in American courts for vaccine-related harm. Instead, Health and Human Services (HHS) set up a National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. To date, about $6 million has been paid out for “compensable claims” to the victims of Gardasil and/or their surviving family members.

Here’s what the VAERS reports (to June 2014) reveal:

35,270  “Adverse Events,” of which
11,705   required a visit to the Emergency Room, and
 7,111   were conditions from which the victim has not recovered, including
 4,920   conditions deemed “Serious,” of which
 3,679   required Hospitalization, and
 1,156   have left girls Disabled, and
    640  were “Life Threatening,” and
    251  required an Extended Hospital Stay and
    169  girls Died.

Also, it should be noted, that doctors are finding a particularly disturbing side effect of Gardasil, that it increases pre-cancer and cancer: there have been 572 reports of abnormal pap smears; 243 cases of cervical dysplasia, and 78 cases of cervical cancer. As the vaccine reduces the risk of 4 strains of HPV (for betwen 2-5 years only), it is thought to increase the risk of cancer from the other strains.

Due to routine screening in the United States (Pap tests), the death rate from cervical cancer has declined by more than 70% in the past 40 years. The CDC reports that in 2010, fewer than 12,000 women in the U.S. acquired cervical cancer and fewer than 4,000 died from this type of cancer. It is not even among the top ten sites for cancer deaths among all women, and among White, Asian and American Indian women. It ranks as the 10th leading cancer cause of death only among Blacks and Hispanics. However, breast cancer is 12 times more likely to cause death among Black women and 9 times more likely to cause death among Hispanic women than is cervical cancer. Improved (free) screening
– which carries no health risks at all – in rural areas and among undocumented immigrants reluctant to seek routine medical care, could reduce mortality rates to the minimum possible.

While U.S. agencies are reluctant to halt the always aggressive marketing and sales of Gardasil, other countries are fighting to protect the health of their young women and girls:

•  JAPAN suspended the use of Gardasil and is beginning an inquiry into safety issues.
•  AUSTRIA has refused to include Gardasil on its vaccination schedule.
•  SPAIN has filed a criminal complaint against Merck.
•  INDIA’s Supreme Court is poised to rule on Merck’s alleged fraud in marketing and in continuing to test a vaccine-booster after the Court mandated that Merck cease all vaccine testing on its people.
•  ISRAEL’s Health Ministry is considering cancelling its vaccine program due to Gardasil’s side effects.
•  FRANCE – over a dozen women have filed criminal complaints against Merck due to their injuries.

An interview of a French pharmaceutical industry physician who formerly worked for Merck, Dr. Bernard Dalbergue, is published in the April 2014 edition of Principes de Santé (Health Principles). A few excerpts follow:

Dr. Harper was employed by Merck as the “Principal Investigator” for Gardasil’s clinical trials. What has she to say about Gardasil?

She points out that Gardasil protects against only 3 of the many cancer-causing strains of HPV and is assumed (but not yet proven) to prevent acquisition of HPV 16 for up to five years. Its ability to protect against HPV 18, 11 and 6 degrades after 2-3 years, however. If Gardasil prevented these strains of HPV for 15 years, then it could reduce the incidence of cervical cancer when given to an 11-year-old girl. But if it protects against only one strain for only as long as five years, “then no cancers are prevented, only postponed.” She continues:

There will be “no population benefit in reduction of cervical cancer incidence in the United States with HPV vaccination as long as screening continues.”

Which is the greater threat – cervical cancer or Gardasil side effects?

Dr. Harper had this to say:

But note that compares DOSES, not 100,000 WOMEN who’ve received, presumably 3 doses each. So the true figure would be 3-4 adverse events/33,333 women if all women using Gardasil received all 3 shots, or 9-12 serious adverse events/100,000 women – a higher incidence (9-12/100,000) than the incidence of cervical cancer (7/100,000).

A study by researchers at the University of British Columbia found that the U.S. death rate from cervical cancer (2.4/100,000) is also exceeded by the rate of reported serious adverse events per dose, including death (3.34/100,000).

A few final points: An estimated 25 million women have already been exposed to HPV. If a woman then receives a vaccination, her risk of developing pre-cancerous lesions is -44.6%. (See Table 17 of the Vaccines and Related Biological Properties Advisory Committee background document, dated May 18, 2006.)

The FDA stated in a 2008 “Closing Statement” that 73.3% of the girls in the clinical trials developed new medical conditions following their Gardasil shot and 17 girls died. And yet the vaccine was fast-tracked to approval and marketing in record time. The deaths may well have been unrelated to Gardasil, but many of the "new medical conditions" reported to the FDA appear to be closely linked to vaccination. 

There is growing evidence of the existence of other horrendous "side effects": premature menopause or infertility, Guillain-Barre syndrome, stroke, venous thromboembolism, appendicitis, seizures and epilepsy. For further information, see Med Alerts data from the National Vaccine Information Center.

A study at the Duke University School of Medicine found that the strains of HPV against which Gardasil is supposed to offer protection do not include the strain primarily responsible for cervical cancer in Black women. Gardasil offers virtually no protection to Black women.

The million dollar question: Why, given the above, is the Administration intent on promoting Gardasil use across the country? Well, here’s a possible reason: Merck’s vaccine business brings in about $5 billion annually, from that, it gives back much, e.g., a "royalty" to the National Institutes of Health on sales of Gardasil and, of course, donations to political campaigns.

Susan E. Willsis Spirituality Editor of Aleteia’s English edition.