Merck Halts Lobbying For Gardasil
By www.menhealthonline.biz
Merck has decided to cease lobbying to states for a mandate requiring that young girls receive their vaccination (Gardasil), which protects females from obtaining HPV, the leading cause of cervical cancer.
Merck decided to stop its campaign after consultation from the American Academy of Pediatrics which stated that the vaccine was too expensive to be paid for by state funding. Gardasil is taken in 3 doses, each dose costing a 120 dollars.
Texas became the first state to require young girls to receive the shot before entering into the sixth grade. The mandate has created a storm of controversy because HPV is not transferred by casual contact from germs such as measles or polio. Since it is spread through sexual interaction, many parents feel that giving their children the vaccination would be undermining their teachings of abstinence. Also, many critics argue that the vaccine is still to new and unproven to make it mandatory.
According to Bloomberg, “In the U.S., where Pap smear screening to detect
