Texas cervical cancer vaccine battleground

BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhuanet) – U.S. Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s mandate that all of the state’s middle-school-aged girls be vaccinated against a virus that causes cervical cancer angered Texas lawmakers who pushed a bill through committee to rescind the executive order, and Friday the unidentified parents of three Texas girls sued Perry for overstepping his authority and illegally requiring the vaccine.The whirlwind of controversy is a setback for public health advocates in the first state to require the vaccine for school admission, starting in 2008.Measures introduced by lawmakers in at least 31 states also have triggered negative fallout, said James Colgrove, a medical historian at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.“I would be surprised to see a lot of bills passed in the coming year,” Colgrove said of legislation requiring the vaccine. “The majority public health opinion is we really should be moving a little slower than this.”The vaccine, called Gardasil, protects women against two strains of the human papilloma virus that cause 70 percent of cervical cancers. At 360 U.S. dollars for a series of three shots, it is the most expensive vaccine yet. Medicaid and the federal Vaccines for Children Program will help cover costs. Large private insurers are also expected to pay for the vaccine.Legislators in Michigan, the first state to introduce bills on the vaccine last fall, narrowly defeated legislation mandating HPV vaccinations in December. A Maryland bill was withdrawn last month over concerns that children have trouble getting the shots already required.Virginia legislators have passed a bill mandating the vaccine, but Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat, hasn’t decided whether to sign it.In California, a bill that would require school girls to get the shots has not been assigned to a committee. Assemblyman Ed Hernandez (D-Baldwin Park), lead author of the bill, said the row in Texas hadn’t diminished his support for mandating the vaccinations.“We plan on moving forward with our bill because I believe mandating this vaccination is the right thing to do,” he said. “The cervical cancer vaccine provides us the ability to significantly diminish a disease that needlessly kills and permanently maims thousands of women every year.”Merck & Co., the maker of Gardasil, this week suspended its lobbying campaign aimed at getting states to require the vaccine for middle-school-aged girls.“It distracted from the real issue, the importance of the vaccine and the ability to save lives,” spokesman Chris Loder said.Colgrove said Merck’s lobbying efforts undermined its cause.“People felt like they were just doing it to make money, and it looked suspicious,” he said. “It’s such a new vaccine and people hadn’t had a chance to be educated about it, but it was really being pushed through. I think Merck’s aggressive efforts created a lot of resistance, even from supporters.”