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Joseph Sarandos
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Re: Requiring HPV-Shots for schoolgirls is a CORRUPT FINANCIAL SCAM!
Bob,
Although not at the FDA site, I did catch the news about Merck’s Rotavirus vaccine while scanning the google headlines. I agree that this comes at a very bad time for Merck.
But, the latest news about Perry’s financial conflict-of-interests, surrounding his proposal to privatize the Texas State Lottery, bears the potential that he might end up being impeached because of his obvious corruption.
This article comes out of Austin and San Antonio. I’ll emphasize the high points.
This article didn’t mention the salary that Perry’s 23-year-old son would be “earning” from UBS, but I’m sure it will be told by other editors (along with other surprises), as the investigative reporting delves deeper into Perry’s “back-room” wheeling and dealing.
Joseph
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http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA021407.01A.perryson.1b792f2.html
More lottery-sale questions dogging Perry
Web Posted: 02/14/2007 12:20 AM CST
Lisa Sandberg
Express-News Austin Bureau
AUSTIN — Just days after insisting his friendship with a former U.S. senator had nothing to do with his proposal to sell off the Texas Lottery, Gov. Rick Perry faced renewed conflict-of-interest questions Tuesday, this time regarding his son.
Perry's office confirmed that his son, Griffin Perry, 23, had secured a job at UBS, the investment-banking company the governor has consulted on the lottery proposal.
The UBS vice chairman is former U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, whose political action committee once gave Perry $610,000.
A spokesman for Perry disputed any suggestion that the employment of Griffin Perry had any influence on the governor's discussions with UBS.
"The two are in no way connected," spokesman Robert Black said. "Trying to connect them is a myth."
As for Gramm, Black said Perry had never even spoken to him about the lottery proposal.
Griffin Perry, a graduate of Vanderbilt University who studied economics, had been "subject to the same application process as anyone else" when he was hired, UBS spokeswoman Karina Byrne said.
She said he had been offered a job in mid- to late January to work in the Dallas office in the firm's wealth-management division, a unit not involved in the discussions surrounding the proposed lottery sale, Byrne added. He starts Thursday.
UBS, one of two companies the governor's office has consulted, would stand to take in millions of dollars in fees if it eventually brokers a deal to sell the state lottery to a private company, which Gov. Perry has estimated could bring in between $14 billion and $20 billion.
Robert Rodriguez, president of Southwestern Capital Markets, an investment firm in San Antonio, estimated that a company could easily earn $100 million for brokering the sale of the country's third-largest lottery.
"That's a lot of money," Rodriguez said.
Perry pushed the lottery sale last week in his State of the State address. His aides said the sale would generate roughly $300 million more from investments each year than the state now collects in ticket sales.
Under the proposal, money from the sale would be invested and the proceeds would fund three trusts: one for public education, a second for cancer research and a third for health care for as many as 600,000 low-income, uninsured Texans.
Perry's proposal stunned many lawmakers still fuming over his executive order four days earlier requiring 11- and 12-year old girls be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted disease that causes cervical cancer.
That order quickly prompted calls from reporters seeking to know if Perry had been influenced by his former chief of staff, Mike Toomey, who is a registered lobbyist for Merck, the drug company that makes the vaccine. Perry's office said he wasn't.
The governor's handlers have been unable to silence the skeptics.
"It could be a coincidence, but it doesn't look good," said Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice, an Austin-based group that tracks money in Texas politics.
The governor's connection to people working at UBS "raises the question: Is this good public policy or is this just a business deal?" he said of the lottery proposal.
Perry's office had to concede one more connection Tuesday. Phil Wilson, Perry's deputy chief of staff, was once employed by Gramm when he was a senator.
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2/14/2007, 7:58 pm
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Joseph Sarandos
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Re: Requiring HPV-Shots for schoolgirls is a CORRUPT FINANCIAL SCAM!
Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/16735585.htm
Tuesday, Feb 20, 2007
Highlights Monday from the Texas Legislature
Associated Press
Excerpt:
Perry issued an executive order earlier this month requiring girls entering the sixth grade to be inoculated against strains of the human papillomavirus that cause 70 percent of cervical cancer cases.
Conservative groups oppose the mandate because they believe it contradicts Texas' abstinence-only sex education policies and strays too far into the lives of families. They also balk at the $360 cost for the three-shot series and said the vaccine, called Gardasil, is too new to force on children as young as 11 or 12.
The House public health committee is considering a bill by Republican state Rep. Dennis Bonnen of Angleton aimed at overriding Perry's order by barring state officials from requiring the vaccine for school attendance.
Supporters of Bonnen's bill hope to push it through quickly so they will still be in session to override a potential gubernatorial veto. Perry has declined to say whether he'd veto the bill, but he has said he is open to changes to his order.
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2/20/2007, 8:58 am
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Joseph Sarandos
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Re: Requiring HPV-Shots for schoolgirls is a CORRUPT FINANCIAL SCAM!
Merck ending lobbying for mandatory Gardasil vaccine
Tue Feb 20, 2007 7:05pm ET
NEW YORK, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Drugmaker Merck & Co. (MRK.N: Quote, Profile , Research) said on Tuesday it would stop lobbying state legislatures to make it mandatory for schoolgirls to be inoculated with its new cervical cancer vaccine.
The company said it made the decision after re-evaluating its lobbying program, which has generated fierce debate with some religious organizations saying it could encourage promiscuity and parents groups questioning the need for such a widespread vaccination program.
Merck's Gardasil is the first and only vaccine against cervical cancer. Approved in 2006 for females aged 9 to 26, it works against strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease responsible for about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases.
Earlier this month, Texas became the first U.S. state to require that all 11- and 12-year-old girls be vaccinated against HPV. Republican Gov. Rick Perry said parents could opt out of mandatory vaccinations for their children if they objected for reasons including religious beliefs.
About 20 U.S. states had been considering mandating the vaccine, many for girls before they entered the sixth grade.
The vaccine, given in a series of three injections at a price of $360, has been endorsed by medical organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics.
In December, Merck said it was looking into providing Gardasil at much lower prices in developing countries and to make it available within months.
Richard Haupt, executive director of medical affairs for vaccines at Merck, said the media publicity had become a "potential distraction" that was interfering with the company's objective of promoting widespread use of the product.
"We've reevaluated our position, but certainly plan to continue education efforts in different venues, such as with legislators, health departments and coalition groups in various states," Haupt said.
The company reaffirmed it continues to expect combined revenue this year of $2.8 billion to $3.2 billion from its array of vaccines, including ones to prevent shingles and infections with rotavirus.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK.L: Quote, Profile , Research) is expected to file in April for U.S. regulatory approval for its cervical cancer vaccine Cervarix.
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2/21/2007, 10:50 am
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Joseph Sarandos
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Re: Requiring HPV-Shots for schoolgirls is a CORRUPT FINANCIAL SCAM!
Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/4571321.html
AP Texas News
Feb. 21, 2007, 8:10PM
Perry's staff discussed vaccine on day Merck donated to campaign
By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press
AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry's chief of staff met with key aides about the human papillomavirus vaccine the same day its manufacturer donated money to his campaign, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.
Chief of staff Deirdre Delisi's calendar shows she met with the governor's budget director and three members of his office for an "HPV Vaccine for Children Briefing" on Oct. 16.
That day, New Jersey-based Merck & Co.'s political action committee donated $5,000 to Perry and $5,000 total to eight state lawmakers.
The calendar and other documents obtained by the AP show Perry's office began meeting with Merck lobbyists about the vaccine as early as mid-August, months before social conservatives — who are now those most outraged by the order — helped re-elect him in November.
Perry spokesman Robert Black said the timing of the meeting and the donation was a coincidence. He said Delisi had asked budget director Mike Morrissey to update her on the cost of providing the newly FDA-approved HPV vaccine free to young women on Medicaid.
"There was no discussion of any kind of mandates," Black said.
The order the governor issued earlier this month directed the Texas Health and Human Services to adopt rules requiring the shots for girls entering sixth grade as of September 2008. The vaccine protects girls and women against the HPV strains that cause most cases of cervical cancer.
The mandate inflamed conservatives, who say it contradicts Texas' abstinence-only sexual education policies and intrudes too far into families' lives. They also say the shots are too new and too costly to force on young girls.
On Wednesday, the House public health committee voted 6-to-3 in favor of a bill that would override Perry's mandate by barring state officials from requiring the vaccine for school attendance. Ninety-one state representatives — or nearly two-thirds of the House — are co-sponsoring the bill, which now can be considered by the full House.
Perry has repeatedly said the vaccine's lifesaving potential far outweighs opponents' concerns. He has declined to say whether he would veto the bill but has said he is open to changes to his order.
The documents obtained Wednesday by The AP under Texas' open records law provide new detail about the relationship between the governor's office and Merck, which makes the only HPV vaccine on the market.
Critics had previously questioned Perry's ties to the company. Mike Toomey, Perry's former chief of staff and Delisi's predecessor, lobbies for the drug company. And the governor accepted a total of $6,000 from Merck during his re-election campaign, including $1,000 in December 2005.
According to Delisi's calendar, she met with Toomey three times in the sixth months before the order was issued. One meeting happened in August, on the same day two other Perry staffers met with a different Merck lobbyist for a "Merck HPV Vaccine update." The other meetings came just after the November election and just before the legislative session began in January.
Black said he did not know what the two discussed. He said the pair have been friends for years and pointed out that Toomey has many clients other than Merck. He also insisted that the governor did not decide to issue the mandate until well after the election.
Neither Delisi nor Toomey returned telephone calls seeking comment. A spokewoman for Merck also did not return a telephone message.
Cathie Adams, president of the conservative Texas Eagle Forum, said Black's explanation of the timing of the campaign contribution didn't wash.
"We have too many coincidences," she said. "I think that the voters of Texas would find that very hard to swallow."
Merck has waged a behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign to get state legislatures to require 11- and 12-year-old girls to get the three-dose vaccine as a requirement for school attendance. But it announced Tuesday it was suspending those efforts.
The drug company had mainly funneled money through Women in Government, a bipartisan group of female state lawmakers. Many of the group's members have sponsored legislation in other states that would require the vaccine for schoolgirls.
One member of Women in Government is Texas state Rep. Dianne White Delisi, Deirdre Delisi's mother-in-law. Despite her ties to the group, the elder Delisi has opposed Perry's order and voted for the bill aimed at overriding it.
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2/21/2007, 7:43 pm
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Joseph Sarandos
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Re: Requiring HPV-Shots for schoolgirls is a CORRUPT FINANCIAL SCAM!
“Behind the scenes” financial corruption continues with regard to Merck’s HPV vaccine!
The CDC, the ACIP and the National Vaccine Information Center, were and are opposed to making HPV-shots mandatory, and were/are against Merck’s lobbying efforts, but nonetheless Virginia has followed Texas’ lead, becoming the 2nd state to enact a law making Merck’s Gardasil shots mandatory.
But, as in the case of the Texas governor, the Virginia legislators had been swayed into their decision by a Merck-paid individual; a physician who had successfully hidden her financial connection with Merck until after the legislation had been proposed.
I’m presenting this situation by citing and quoting (my emphasis added) two separate news-articles.
Joseph
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http://washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20070226-115014-2031r
CDC doctor opposes law for vaccine
By Gregory Lopes
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published February 27, 2007
The chairman of the federal panel that recommended the new cervical-cancer vaccine for pre-teen girls says lawmakers should not make the inoculation mandatory, as the District and more than 20 states, including Virginia, are considering.
Dr. Jon Abramson, chairman of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's advisory committee on immunization practices (ACIP), also said he and panel members told Merck & Co., the drug Gardasil's maker, not to lobby state lawmakers to require the vaccine for school attendance.
"I told Merck my personal opinion that it shouldn't be mandated," Dr. Abramson told The Washington Times. "And they heard it from other committee members."
Dr. Abramson said he opposes mandating Gardasil, which prevents the cervical-cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV), because the sexually transmitted HPV is not a contagious disease like measles and he is not sure states can afford to inoculate all students.
"The vaccines out there now are for very communicable diseases. A child in school is not at an increased risk for HPV like he is measles," Dr. Abramson said.
In addition, Dr. Abramson said a discussion about making the vaccine mandatory should not be had until states show the money is available to vaccinate every child, adding, "I don't see that yet."
Taken in a series of three shots at $120 each, Gardasil is the most expensive vaccine on the market. About 45 percent of children would be eligible for free vaccines from the federal Vaccinations for Children program, while the other 55 percent would depend on the state programs and insurance companies.
The ACIP, a 15-member panel charged with developing vaccine schedules and dosages, recommended Gardasil for 11- and 12-year-olds in July, spurring Merck's lobbying efforts and the legislative push to make the HPV vaccine mandatory for sixth-grade girls.
Merck suspended its lobbying efforts last week amid criticism from parents, who said it would interfere with control over their children, and from conservative groups that said it would encourage premarital sex.
Merck responded yesterday to Dr. Abramson's comments with a statement it had made previously.
"We have had ongoing discussions with a number of key public health experts and listened to their thoughts regarding the timing for school requirements of the HPV vaccine. We do not want any misperception about Merck's role to distract from the ultimate goal of fighting cervical cancer, so Merck has re-evaluated its approach at the state level and we will not lobby for school requirements for Gardasil."
Gardasil is nearly 100 percent effective against two strains of HPV that lead to 70 percent of cervical cancer cases in the United States. Nearly 11,000 cervical-cancer cases occur in the U.S. each year, killing more than 3,700, according to the American Cancer Society.
But cancer data show that lawmakers looking to force pre-teen girls to take Gardasil, the lone vaccine on the market, are targeting the wrong age group.
Middle-school girls inoculated with the breakthrough vaccine will be no older than 18 when they pass Gardasil's five-year window of proven effectiveness -- more than a decade before the typical cancer patient contracts HPV, The Washington Times reported last week.
Infectious disease specialists and cancer pathologists say the incubation period for HPV becoming cancer is 10 to 15 years -- meaning the average cervical cancer patient, who is 47, contracted the virus in her 30s and would not be protected by Gardasil taken as a teen.
Dr. Abramson said the panel thinks the vaccine will last for at least 10 years. Even if it provides 10 years of protection, it would still leave girls given the inoculation in the sixth grade vulnerable during their late 20s and early 30s, when most cervical-cancer patients contract HPV. At that point, another round of Gardasil would be necessary.
Merck is still studying Gardasil's longevity and the potential for a booster shot.
ACIP is the only entity in the federal government to issue immunization recommendations and does not recommend a vaccine be made mandatory; those decisions are left to the states. But the committee's recommendation on the use of a vaccine often plays the lead role in whether states will act to make it part of their mandatory vaccine list, said Barbara Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center, which is opposed to laws making Gardasil mandatory.
"They are the signal for states to act," she said. "The committee knows that and I think they see people getting upset about it."
Earlier this month, Texas became the first state to enact an HPV vaccine law when Gov. Rick Perry bypassed the state Legislature and signed an executive order mandating all girls entering sixth grade be inoculated.
Mr. Perry, who drew fire when it was revealed that his former chief of staff, Mike Toomey, lobbies for Merck, said his order is based on the CDC recommendation.
The Virginia General Assembly last week approved legislation that would require that girls receive the Gardasil before entering sixth grade starting Oct. 1, 2008. The legislation allows parents to opt not to have their daughters vaccinated.
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-END of this article, but now read the following article about Virginia’s legislators being affected by a Merck-paid physician.
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3/3/2007, 11:18 am
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Joseph Sarandos
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Re: Requiring HPV-Shots for schoolgirls is a CORRUPT FINANCIAL SCAM!
The Roanoke News
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/wb/xp-106964
Merck speaker muddies decision
A doctor who promotes Merck helped Virginia legislators evaluate a Merck vaccine proposal.
By Jeff Sturgeon
981-3251
A physician who advised the Virginia legislature that the state could successfully vaccinate all sixth-grade girls against some types of cervical cancer maintains a previously undisclosed financial relationship with the vaccine's maker.
The statements by Dr. Cecelia Boardman in a public session of the General Assembly on Jan. 23 didn't violate any disclosure requirement governing witnesses who give input to lawmaking committees. And no one objects to her having shared her considerable expertise in women's health issues with the legislature.
But several lawmakers said that as she helped a legislative panel evaluate a proposal to give Virginia school girls the new vaccine Gardasil made by Merck & Co., she should have disclosed that she gives educational talks to doctors about the drug and the disease it prevents. And she does so at Merck's request using Merck-supplied material and in return for a fee from the Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based drug giant.
"I would say it was a breach of etiquette," said Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem. "I'm not mad about it. ... She probably didn't know any better."
That's right, said Boardman, a gynecologic oncologist at Virginia Commonwealth University's Massey Cancer Center. "It was my naivete."
But Del. Christopher Peace, R-Hanover County, said he is concerned that Boardman's slip might have contributed to what he called a "rushed" and superficial analysis of a controversial measure that now sits on the desk of Gov. Tim Kaine awaiting his signature.
It is the first cervical-cancer vaccine mandate in the country to be handed up by a state legislature. At least 18 other states are watching what Virginia's governor will do as he weighs opposition on medical and social grounds to the bill and the method by which parents will be allowed to opt out.
The side job Boardman has as a paid speaker highlights the existence of speakers bureaus, the membership of which is not a matter of public record. Drug companies line up influential, respected, competent doctors to give scientific presentations about topics of medical importance to other doctors. The formation of speakers bureaus sometimes or often coincides with the release of a new drug. In return for their fee, the speakers make scheduled presentations to audiences of doctors who earn continuing-education credits for their attendance.
Virginia opens its political process to the public, allowing anyone who is present to come forth and speak at a committee hearing. Paid lobbyists are required to register with the state to participate in the legislative process, but others are merely required to identify themselves at the microphone before they speak.
Boardman said she had entered the hearing by chance and spoke only when a question came up and she seemed the most informed person in the room to answer. Merck did not send her to the meeting, she emphasized, nor was her interchange with lawmakers a Merck-paid appearance. But she acknowledged she does speak on Merck's behalf and has given four or five talks on cervical cancer and Gardasil for Merck.
She declined to reveal her pay as a speaker, but estimated that the common fee industrywide without regard to the drugmaker involved is $1,000 to $1,500 per appearance.
"I'm most distressed and most apologetic and most concerned that there is any perception of my being dishonest or untruthful," Boardman said. "I have done a lot of public speaking on cervical cancer and cervical cancer prevention in my professional roles. In my mind, I did not feel any conflict in the testimony I provided."
She said she did not participate in Gardasil research and that she independently evaluated the drug's performance before coming to her conclusion that it works.
"If I thought the data was crummy, I'd say the data was crummy," she said.
Newspaper accounts of the Gardasil legislative debate that quoted Boardman do not mention her Merck ties. Nor does a press announcement on the Web site of Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling that mentions Boardman in association with a public education campaign about cervical cancer and its prevention that the lawmaker has sponsored.
Dr. John Abramson is an instructor at Harvard Medical School with a part-time consulting business that helps attorneys bring lawsuits against Merck. He wrote "Overdosed America," in which he described what he sees as the harmful effects of the commercialization of health care and health care knowledge by drug and device makers and other corporations.
Abramson supports more transparency about financial ties between medical professionals and corporations. Boardman should have disclosed her Merck relationship, he said. Imagine a juror not disclosing financial ties to a corporation in whose judgment the juror was sitting, just because the juror had no particular role in the matter at hand, Abramson said. "That would be unacceptable," he said.
The Boardman incident "may be a reminder to us" that committee chairmen and chairwomen should explicitly direct witnesses to disclose conflicts of interest if they have them, Griffith said.
While a culture of disclosure generally governs committee hearings, there is no requirement that lawmakers disclose who asks them to draft a particular bill. Del. Phil Hamilton, a Newport News Republican who carried a version of the final vaccine bill, said he ordered the legislation be drafted in the first place at the request of a lobbyist at Williams Mullens, a law firm. He declined to name the lobbyist.
Two registered Merck lobbyists work at Williams Mullens. Williams Mullens did not return a phone call.
Asked about Boardman, Hamilton said he didn't ask her to testify. Nor is he concerned, he said, that she is a paid speaker for Merck. "I had done my own independent research," Hamilton said.
After Boardman's testimony, the House of Delegates' Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee approved the bill 19-2.
"It seemed rushed," Peace said. "I think she might have been the only doctor that testified. There was no one in opposition."
Had Boardman disclosed she works for Merck, "I imagine it would have created a lengthier hearing, some more questions asked, some more skepticism," he said.
It might have suggested to some lawmakers that the bill, rather than advancing to the House floor, needed further subcommittee review, Peace said, adding, "but it's so hard to speculate."
Kaine has said he intends to sign the bill. Peace said Kaine might consider requiring the General Assembly to debate and pass the law a second time, in 2008, before it would take effect.
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3/3/2007, 11:21 am
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insider3
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Re: Requiring HPV-Shots for schoolgirls is a CORRUPT FINANCIAL SCAM!
Darn, Joseph!
Although I still believe your prediction that the Texas governor's executive order will end up in the dumper, it appears that Merck is not giving up its efforts to "persuade" other states to make Gardasil a mandatory inoculation for young schoolgirls.
With all of the medical evidences, all of the governmental health agencies and most of the public being against the premature requirement of this vaccine, and with Merck's "promise" to quit lobbying for it, there remains situations such as in Virginia, where it is obvious that the "push" for mandatory laws is being spearheaded by politicians and expert witnesses who are either bribed or paid by Merck, and who either hide or strongly deny that such campaign-contributions or direct payments had anything to do with their decisions and actions to promote, legislate, or sign executive orders in favor of mandating Gardasil.
At this stage, YOU must feel like a lone guerilla-warrior attempting to "stamp out the fires" that Merck keeps starting ahead of you, despite that entire organizations are tirelessly working to "disarm Merck of its flamethrowers" via the traditional ways and means for which the politicians were expecting and prepared in advance.
As they say, "money crosses all political and moral lines," and Merck has PLENTY of money with which to corrupt greedy politicians in both of the major parties.....and it doesn't mind "investing millions" in such efforts since the potential RETURNS from such "investments" are into the BILLIONS of dollars over SHORT periods of time.
If Merck ends up WINNING, that should serve as a real "eye opener" for those in the general public who STILL have trust and confidence in their elected representatives.
Let's keep hoping and praying that Merck will LOSE this battle against the interests of the young schoolgirls AND the American taxpayers, and that "heads will roll" among the politicians who are ENABLING Merck's "corrupt financial scam" as you called it.
Bob
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3/3/2007, 3:15 pm
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Joseph Sarandos
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Re: Requiring HPV-Shots for schoolgirls is a CORRUPT FINANCIAL SCAM!
Merck spent more than half a million dollars trying to get New York to make its Gardasil vaccine mandatory.
And yes, along with its “lobbying efforts,” Merck had also corrupted politicians with “contributions” into their election/reelection treasuries (remember that “unused” campaign-funds become the private assets of officials upon their defeats or retirements from their public offices), and it had pumped money into some of the politicians’ so-called “housekeeping accounts," which amount to scarcely accountable slush-funds that the recipients can spend as they wish.
Joseph
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Newsday
http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzmerc0309,0,897714.story?coll=ny-business-leadheadlines
News | Entertainment | Sports | Jobs | Cars | Real Estate | Apartments | ShopLocal | Place An A
Company pushing cancer vaccine lobbied NY hard
BY KATHLEEN KERR
kathleen.kerr@newsday.com
March 8, 2007, 8:50 PM EST
As the pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. prepared to market a new cancer vaccine,it spent more than $500,000 lobbying in New York State and contributing to key officials, including two from Long Island.
The company wanted state legislatures to require cervical cancer vaccinations for girls before they have sexual intercourse. At the same time, Merck was lobbying state officials on other issues; it could not be determined how much was spent on cervical cancer.
Merck's Gardasil prevents 70 percent of cervical cancers and was the only vaccine available. The company lobbied heavily across the country for mandatory shots, in a demonstration of how corporations try to influence health care policy.
Merck spokesman Raymond Kerins said the company lobbied because it wanted to get the vaccine to protect women. It eventually stopped after consulting medical and scientific experts, he said, noting, "We want people to focus on having a discussion about cervical cancer and women's health."
Tallying cost of prevention
Cervical cancer kills about 233,000 women worldwide each year -- 3,700 in the U.S. Gardasil defeats two strains of the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus that cause cervical cancer. It works best if women receive it before ever having sex.
But opponents question Gardasil's cost -- about $400 for the three shots -- and unknown side effects. Some conservatives argue Gardasil could lead to promiscuity if girls mistakenly believe it protects against all sexually transmitted diseases.
State records show Merck contributed $106,000 to "housekeeping accounts" of various New York Republican and Democratic committees between 1999 and 2006. The accounts are supposed to pay for expenses such as rent and telephones, but critics say it can be difficult to trace how the money is spent.
Merck gave $33,400 to Democratic accounts and $72,600 to Republican accounts -- including $10,000 to the New York Republican State Committee. "Those were under prior state chairmen, so I decline to comment," said Anthony Santino, spokesman for GOP state chairman Joseph Mondello.
Phil Oliva, spokesman for the Assembly's Republican conference, said: "We occasionally have individual groups contribute to the housekeeping account [for the GOP Assembly Campaign Committee]. There's never been a quid pro quo."
Assemb. Ron Canestrari (D-Cohoes), the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee chairman, said Merck never lobbied him. "I assume they made the contributions either in response to different functions we have during the course of the year and generally to support our efforts here, the majority, in the Assembly," Canestrari said.
Deputy Senate majority leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) and Senate health committee chairman Sen. Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City), and Assistant Assembly speaker Rhoda Jacobs (D-Flatbush) were the three lawmakers who received the most from Merck.
Between 1999 and 2006, Skelos received $4,300, Hannon received $3,150 and Jacobs received $3,950.
Skelos spokesman Tom Dunham said: "As far as contributions generally, Merck along with a number of other groups, they contribute to a number of other members.”
Hannon spokesman Christopher Bastardi said: "He in recent memory has not met with Merck in the past couple of years."
Pressing state lawmakers
The bulk of Merck's New York expenses between 2003 and 2006 went to lobbying. Records kept by The New York Temporary State Commission on Lobbying show Merck spent $384,203.
Between 2004 and 2006, Merck listed cervical cancer and vaccine policy among its reasons for lobbying. Other reasons included prescription drug assistance, diabetes and mercury in vaccines. Merck said it intended to lobby the Assembly, the Senate, the governor, the lieutenant governor and the health department.
The Food and Drug Administration approved Gardasil in 2006. An advisory panel of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended shots for 11 and 12-year-old girls but did not require them.
Dr. John Treanor, professor of medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, served on the CDC panel. "I think decisions about the mandatory nature of vaccines have to be made very carefully," he said. "I personally would not be in favor at this time of mandatory vaccination."
Dr. Robert Baltimore, a Yale University School of Medicine professor, is on the American Academy of Pediatrics' infectious disease committee. He said: "It doesn't exactly meet the same health standards that other vaccinations that are mandatory meet."
AAP doesn't support the mandatory shots. Baltimore said states should concentrate on finding money to pay for Gardasil for people who can't afford it.
On Feb. 20, Merck stopped lobbying for mandatory shots but already had spent considerable time and money trying to influence lawmakers. On Feb. 23, Assemb. Amy Paulin (D-Scarsdale) introduced a bill requiring cervical cancer vaccinations for girls. "I was very excited about a vaccine on the market that would eradicate cervical cancer," she said. "I reached out to Merck."
Paulin received one $500 contribution from Merck. She met with Merck's representatives several times but said they did not pressure her.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer's proposed budget includes $1.5 million for cervical cancer shots for low-income girls and women. Texas Gov. Rick Perry recently made the shots mandatory for 11- and 12-year-old girls entering sixth grade. His former chief of staff is a Merck lobbyist. Twenty states have bills mandating the shots.
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3/9/2007, 11:48 am
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Joseph Sarandos
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Re: Requiring HPV-Shots for schoolgirls is a CORRUPT FINANCIAL SCAM!
Well folks,
We’re just about to see what happens to the first of all “successful” corruption-campaigns by Merck, to get its Gardasil brand of HPV vaccine made mandatory by state law.
The more honest of theTexas politicians are betting their pointy boots and 10-gallon hats that the “anti-mandate bill” will succeed to override Governor Perry’s “bought and paid for” executive order.
But, the more dishonest of the politicians in the 20 other states that have been targeted by Merck’s “spend millions to make billions” corruptive scam, who were and are counting on repaying Merck for its generous (known and unrevealed) donations to their public and private treasuries, will be watching, hoping and praying that Perry’s order will stand. Of course, Merck itself will be doing the most of such watching, hoping and praying.
Read on.
Joseph
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HPV order override bill set for debate Tuesday
3/9/2007 11:34:57 AM
By: Associated Press
A bill to override Gov. Rick Perry's executive order that girls must receive a vaccine against the human papilloma virus is set for debate Tuesday. The matter comes up in the Texas House.
Perry issued the order requiring girls entering sixth grade in September 2008 to be vaccinated against HPV. The virus causes most cases of cervical cancer.
Opponents say the order interferes with parental decisions. There are provisions to allow parents to have their children opt out. Perry says he wants to protect girls from cancer.
Critics say the Legislature should decide what the state will require, not the governor.
The anti-mandate bill, HB 1098, before the House was filed by Rep. Dennis Bonnen of Angleton and has at least 90 co-sponsors.
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3/10/2007, 12:38 pm
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Joseph Sarandos
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Re: Requiring HPV-Shots for schoolgirls is a CORRUPT FINANCIAL SCAM!
NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/us/14vaccine.html
March 14, 2007
Texas House Rejects Order by Governor on Vaccines
By DAN FROSCH
Six weeks after Gov. Rick Perry issued an executive order making Texas the first state to require that sixth-grade girls be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer, the State House of Representatives voted 119 to 21 yesterday to approve a bill that would nullify the order.
If the Senate also approves the bill, the measure will go to Mr. Perry, a Republican, whose office declined to say whether he would veto it.
(Balance of text omitted. J/S)
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3/13/2007, 9:37 pm
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