2006 - 2007
Merck begins pushing U.S. states to mandate the
vaccination of teenage girls with Gardasil, a vaccine they claim
prevents HPV, a sexually-transmitted virus. In February 2007, Texas
Gov. Rick Perry -- who was revealed to have financial ties with Merck,
the vaccine manufacturer -- mandates the vaccine in teenage girls (see
target="_blank">http://www.newstarget.com/021572.html ). A key
Merck lobbyist named Mike Toomey, it turned out, had served as Gov.
Rick Perry's chief of staff.
The Texas decision to mandate the vaccine was a notable and troubling
milestone in public health policy because it is the first time a
vaccine is mandated for a disease that cannot be contracted through
casual contact in public schools. It also invoked "gunpoint medicine,"
or the threat of arrest at gunpoint for not agreeing to receive
state-mandated injections.
The Gardasil vaccinations remain a grand medical experiment being
performed on children because it is not yet known what the long-term
side effects of the vaccination will be, nor whether the vaccinations
will actually lower rates of cervical cancer as intended.