I continue to seethe every time I see a commercial for Gardasil. Is it me, or have the ads been tweaked? I am now noticing they’ve added words like “protects against SOME forms of cervical cancer” (not all, as was originally implied), and “Gardasil does not prevent ALL forms of cervical cancer”, and “you should continue to see your doctor for additional screening.” I’m glad they are being slightly more responsible in their advertising (I am not alone in the belief that drug companies should not be allowed to have commercials). But then, I read stories submitted to me by readers (thank you Linette).

In New Hampshire, there is a program for girls to be vaccinated with Gardasil for free.

New Hampshire was the first state to approve free distribution of Gardisil, which protects girls against four strains of a sexually transmitted infection called human papillomavirus, or HPV.

But four months into the program, doctors offices say demand, stimulated by advertising, has led to waiting lists and some soul-searching about who should get the shots first.

“You’ve got a limited supply, you have a lot of people who want it, how do you triage it?” asks nurse practitioner Ardell Currier of Penacook Family Physicians. “How do you ethically and morally distribute the vaccine?”

(emphasis my own) So, because they have seen a commercial of young teenagers jumping rope and singing “O-N-E-L-E-S-S, I’m gonna be one less, one less!” and girls telling the camera that they will now not get cervical cancer because of this wonder drug, parents are racing to get their little girls poisoned vaccinated. Frankly, if I bought into the hype, I’d likely try to get a free $360 series of shots for RTY, too. Free is much more appealing than $360.

But I still say it is TOO SOON to know what the long term effects of this new drug are. The ads are still too misleading. And they’re pushing this drug onto people at too young an age. By the time many of these eleven year olds actually become sexually active, the vaccine will have either become ineffective or be nearly ineffective. There is not enough information yet about the need for booster shots. And injecting this poison into eleven year olds give parents and the girls a false sense of security and can lead to risky behavior later in life as a result.

Although HPV is only transmitted through sexual contact, it’s common enough that about half of all men and women are infected at some point in their lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency recommends that girls get the vaccine when they are 11 or 12 so they will have immunity before they become sexually active.

Tell me why this vaccine against HPV is only being thrust upon women and not upon men, from whom women acquire the virus?

This whole topic scares the hell out of me. I hate hearing all these sheep are blindly accepting advertising as Scripture and rushing out to poison our children. It’s too soon, people. Too soon.

Parents need to teach their children about risks that exist upon becoming sexually active. PARENTS need to do this. It worries me that these parents are jumping onto this band wagon leading to an unknown, but supposedly cancer-free, destination.

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