|
Comment on this article |
Email this Article
|
|
News :: Corporations |
|
Gardasil Gripe |
Current rating: 0 |
by Helen Lobato
(No verified email address) |
09 Nov 2006
|
|
Yesterday the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee rejected a proposal to subsidise Gardasil, the cervical cancer vaccine, due to its high cost |
|
We've seen it all before!
Whenever it appears that a new drug or vaccine has been denied a government subsidy then the lobbying starts in earnest. Yesterday the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee rejected a proposal to subsidise Gardasil, the cervical cancer vaccine, due to its high cost.
However Gardasil needs to be rejected outright!
With cervical cancer causing about one percent of all cancer deaths due to routine pap screening what is the rush to vaccinate our young girls with a vaccine that has not been proven safe and effective.
During the vaccine trials there were adverse effects in 90% of the test
subjects. These included headache, gastroenteritis, appendicitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, asthma, bronchospasm and arthritis.
The organism that is believed to be responsible for cervical cancer is the Human Papilloma Virus. However there is no proof of this causation. In fact over half the adult population is infected with HPV yet only 1 percent of women develop the cancer.
]Drug company CSL which shares Australian marketing rights for the Gardasil vaccine with Merck warned that even a small delay in the availability of subsidies could expose thousands of women to HPV by putting back the start of school immunisation programs.
There is more than a hint of desperation in this plea by big pharma. Back in September CSL sent letters to GP's encouraging patients to spend $450 to buy the cervical cancer vaccine rather than waiting for the Federal Government to make it much cheaper.
Financial analysts predict Gardasil could be Merck's most important pipeline contributor to top-line growth, with peak sales of at least $2 billion. This is revenue that Merck badly needs after the Vioxx scandals. That revenue figure assumes that Gardasil will be required for school admittance.
Beware the lobbying has only just begun!
http://www.informyourself.com.au
=============
Cervical cancer vaccine will be funded: Howard
John Howard has declared a new cervical cancer vaccine will be subsidised. |
This work is in the public domain |
