MetaChat - Texas Governor Rick Perry bypasses state Legislature, orders HPV vaccine.

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02 February 2007

Texas Governor Rick Perry bypasses state Legislature, orders HPV vaccine. This is a serious 'Wow.'

post by: mudpuppie at: 19:10 | 16 comments

Not so 'wow' is the fact that Merck lobbied really hard for the move. But anyway.

posted by mudpuppie 02 February | 19:11

Yeah, pup, my first thought was "Wow, that's cool!" and my second thought was "I wonder how much money he's getting from pharm PACs?"

posted by muddgirl 02 February | 19:13

Actually reading the article, $6,000 really isn't that much.

posted by muddgirl 02 February | 19:16

Legislative aides said they are looking for ways around the order for parents who oppose it.

"He's circumventing the will of the people," said Dawn Richardson, president of Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education, a citizens group that fought for the right to opt out of other vaccine requirements.

I'll never understand people like this. (And I'm related to a couple of them.) You don't want your child to have a vaccine that could save her life because...? Anyone? Bueller?

posted by BoringPostcards 02 February | 19:18

And they want to prevent the rest of the kids from recieving the vaccine. Holy Christ, just opt out and shut up.

posted by LoriFLA 02 February | 19:21

Can anyone explain why boys aren't vaccinated, too? I get that females are who are most seriously affected, but aren't males vectors? It's not just "American females are protected so to hell with the rest of the population," is it?

posted by small_ruminant 02 February | 19:53

I found this small_ruminant:

Why hasn't it been approved for use in men?
While the vaccine is safe and effective in producing antibodies against HPV in males, there's just not enough research to support vaccinating them. Gardasil is expensive and the frequency of genital warts and certain cancers in males is relatively low, so officials haven't seen enough compelling evidence to approve the vaccine for males yet. With more research and studies, however, males may someday be vaccinated.

What would be the benefits of vaccinating men?
The primary purpose of vaccinating them would be to prevent infection in females—if males don't have HPV, they can't spread it to their female partners. Also, the vaccine could help males protect themselves from genital warts, anal and penile cancers and other conditions that result from HPV.

website

It confirmed my guess that the incidence of penile cancer, etc. was much lower than cervical cancer. It would be an optimal situation if both sexes received the vaccine. It all comes back to the dollar.

Ugh, I should of spellchecked my last post. :)

posted by LoriFLA 02 February | 20:08

I wonder if parents could be successfully sued by their adult children if the child ends up with a serious medical ailment that could have been prevented by vaccination.

posted by edgeways 02 February | 20:10

I should have I have to get off of this site. I'm just plumb dumb!

posted by LoriFLA 02 February | 20:11

Yeah, this is pretty big news around here. I'm kind of stunned actually. I mean, this is a good thing but...Rick Perry? Wha?

BTW, did you know he used to be a cheerleader at Texas A&M? He looks like a cheerleader, doesn't he?

posted by court siem 02 February | 21:33

Everything would be copasetic if this hadn't gone down the way it went down. The lobbying, the exclusion of the legislature...it's just not happening properly and it's going to make it really hard for other states to make this vaccine easily accessible for all girls (and eventually boys).

posted by Captaintripps 02 February | 23:00

There were two FUD letters to the editor in my local paper today. "It hasn't been tested enough! It will encourage dancing!"

posted by stilicho 02 February | 23:01

Everything would be copasetic if this hadn't gone down the way it went down. The lobbying, the exclusion of the legislature...

I'm all for representative democracy. But, having worked for the Texas Legislature, I can say with some authority that this was the best of all possible outcomes.

posted by mudpuppie 02 February | 23:17

This is so very cool. Yay, Texas!

posted by occhiblu 03 February | 18:06

My wife is all, "I CAN'T BELIEVE PERRY DID THE RIGHT THING!!!!

posted by Doohickie 03 February | 21:25

I hope Ceiling Molly (Ivins) is watching us legislate.

posted by rob511 04 February | 02:27

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