Parents Think before Allowing Your Daughters to Get the HPV Vaccine

Led by Texas (which has since reversed course) several states and the District of Columbia jumped on a questionable medical bandwagon recently making it mandatory that all girls entering the sixth-grade receive the HPV vaccine. The vaccination was developed to fight the human papillomavirus a sexually transmitted virus which can lead to cervical cancer later in life.

However, the mandatory requirement has produced a lot of controversy and while not a medical professional, I think there is reason to be skeptical, educate yourself and ask hard-hitting questions before allowing your daughter to receive the vaccination.

First of all, we should all be skeptical when politicians start practicing medicine without a license. But requiring that young girls receive this vaccination amounts to just that.

Second, the biggest push for this mandatory vaccination came from Merck the pharmaceutical giant which manufactures the vaccine and stands to make billions if city's and/or states throughout the country require the vaccination.

Third, the vaccination was tested on a relatively small (less than 1,200) number of girls under 16 and received surprisingly rapid approval by the Food and Drug Administration.

Fourth, there appears to be a lot of politics-as-usual at work. In the case of Texas, the same day Governor Rick Perry's chief of staff met with Merck executives to discuss that state's mandatory vaccination plan, Merck made a large contribution to Perry's re-election campaign and to those of eight Texas legislators. When that news became public, Texas backed away from the mandatory plan.

Similar questions are being raised in Florida, Maryland, Virginia and other jurisdictions where critics are, in effect, accusing Merck of paying to have the use of its vaccination made mandatory.

The vaccination may be harmless and effective. But the manner in which it is being promoted and the way legislation is being passed raise serious concerns for any conscientious parent. Educate yourself about the vaccination and raise hard-hitting questions with your local and state representatives. A starting point for education is a 2006 article on the Daily Heath News website.

Learn more about this author, Robert Taylor.
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