Merck Funded Study Returns Dubious Gardasil Autoimmune Safety Results

Merck Funded Study Returns Dubious Gardasil Autoimmune Safety Results

by Tony Isaacs

A new Merck funded study has concluded that Merck's controversial Gardasil HPV vaccine poses no risk for developing autoimmune conditions.  The conclusions come as no surprise to those who have seen self-serving results from previous Merck funded studies, many of which were later proven false or misleading.  Ironically, shortly after Merck announced the study results the FDA approved the addition of an autoimmune related disease to the side effects listed for another HPV vaccine.

An article posted on September 3 in <I>Infectious Disease News</I> reported that study data was presented at the 50th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy which showed that Merck's quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine (Gardasil) did not raise the risk for developing autoimmune conditions. The study was sponsored by Merck and conducted on behalf of the Gardasil Safety Team.

Ironically, only a day earlier on September 2, a letter was issued by the FDA Department of Health and Human Services to GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals on September 2, 2010, granting their request to "add lymphadenopathy to the Adverse Reactions" in the full prescribing information for their HPV vaccine Cervarix.

In Wikipedia lymphadenopathy is described as "a term meaning 'disease of the lymph nodes.' It is, however, almost synonymously used with 'swollen/enlarged lymph nodes'. It could be due to infection, auto-immune disease, or malignancy. Autoimmune etiology includes sarcoidosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis all giving a generalized lymphadenopathy."

Further casting doubt on the Merck study is the fact that thus far over 300 events have been reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) where the vaccine is HPV or HPV4 (Gardasil) and the symptom is lymphadenopathy.  Norma Erickson, President of S.A.N.E Vax, Inc., referred to the Merck funded study as "an outrageous excuse for a scientific study. There are over 60 autoimmune disorders reported to VAERS and the 16 least likely to exhibit (even with Gardasil) were chosen with percentages compiled on only 11 of those - and they were probably randomly sampled."

The new study is hardly the first Merck funded study that has vouched for the safety of its pharmaceutical products which was later proven false.  The most blatant examples were the Merck funded studies on what came to be known as "the Vioxx Scandal". Besides self-serving studies, Merck was found to also be guilty of hiding proof of harm, especially increased risks of heart attack.  Merck was also found to have paid doctors and researchers to put their names on papers Merck wrote. Before Vioxx was finally pulled from the shelves over 60,000 deaths were attributed to Vioxx.

Merck has invested huge amounts of money and efforts to lobby governments in the U.S. and other countries to make HPV vaccinations mandatory for young school girls and has vigorously maintained that Gardasil is safe.  Critics have noted that the figures do not support Merck's claims of safety.

For example, Gardasil causes 400% more deaths than other common vaccines.  See:

www.naturalnews.com/026722_Gardasil_HPV_cervical_cancer.html

Every week brings more Gardasil horror stories. According to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, there have been 77 deaths linked to Gardasil as of September and a whopping 18461 reports of adverse events.  In all 137 deaths have been linked to HPV vaccines.

Shortly after Merck began its intense campaign for Gardasil, Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton warned: "The FDA adverse event reports on the HPV vaccine read like a catalog of horrors. Any state or local government now beset by Merck's lobbying campaigns to mandate this HPV vaccine for young girls ought to take a look at these adverse health reports."

It is a warning too few governments, or parents, have heeded.

Sources included:

http://www.seopressreleases.com/gardasil-autoimmune-diseases-cervarix-adds-ly...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymphadenopathy
http://wikicompany.org/fs/empire/?D=A&if=1
http://www.naturalnews.com/026722_Gardasil_HPV_cervical_cancer.htm
http://www.judicialwatch.org/gardasil