Perry fires back over vaccine flak

Star-Telegram 02/23/2007 Perry fires back over vaccine flak: "Gov. Rick Perry angrily defended his embattled order to vaccinate Texas schoolgirls against the virus that causes cervical cancer, saying it would have been irresponsible to ignore Merck & Co.'s ideas for requiring the shots statewide."

Texans air hopes, fears on vaccine

Star-Telegram 02/20/2007 Texans air hopes, fears on vaccine: "Heather Burcham doesn't have time to sort through abstract arguments about whether requiring sixth-grade girls to be vaccinated against the virus that causes some kinds of cervical cancer should be up to the parents or the state."

Families File Lawsuit To Block Vaccine Order

cbs11tv.com - Families File Lawsuit To Block Vaccine Order: "A group of Dallas-area families have filed a lawsuit seeking to block Gov. Rick Perry's executive order to vaccinate Texas schoolgirls against the virus that causes cervical cancer."

Does Perry really have the power? | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Texas Southwest

Does Perry really have the power? Dallas Morning News News for Dallas, Texas Texas Southwest: "AUSTIN – A lot of lawyers and legislators and some judges don't think Gov. Rick Perry is as powerful as he thinks he is. And basically, they have the absence of law on their side. "

Editorial: How does it look, Rick?

Editorial: How does it look, Rick?: "Perry accepted $5,000 from the political action committee for Merck. The company produces Gardasil, which by Perry’s directive would be administered to all female sixth-graders in Texas unless parents opt out.
The target is a killer: a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer. Texas legislators nonetheless have lined up in numbers to block Perry’s move. They call it too presumptive, both toward families and toward the lawmaking process."

Perry's vaccine order in trouble

Star-Telegram 02/22/2007 Perry's vaccine order in trouble: "AUSTIN -- In a stinging rebuke of Gov. Rick Perry, a legislative panel dominated by his fellow Republicans voted Wednesday to nullify his order that all girls be vaccinated for the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer before they could enter the sixth grade."

HPV Timeline

A list of important dates related to Gov. Rick Perry's mandate requiring all sixth-grade girls to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus, or HPV. Merck & Co.'s Gardasil vaccine is the only such vaccine on the market.
June 8: The Food and Drug Administration approves Gardasil for use in girls and women ages 9 to 26.
June 29: An influential government advisory panel recommends that 11- and 12-year-old girls be routinely vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.
Aug. 15: Two Perry staffers meet with a Merck lobbyist for an ``HPV Vaccine update,'' documents obtained by The Associated Press show. Deirdre Delisi, Perry's chief of staff, has lunch with another Merck lobbyist, Mike Toomey, her predecessor in the governor's office. Perry spokesman Robert Black said he did not know what they discussed.
Oct. 16: Delisi meets with budget director and other aides to discuss the cost of giving the vaccine for free to young women on Medicaid, the documents show.
Nov. 1: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adds Gardasil to the federal Vaccines for Children program, which provides free vaccines to children through age 18 who cannot afford it.
Nov. 7: Perry is re-elected with 39 percent of the vote.
Nov. 10: Delisi meets with Toomey, the documents show. Black said he does not know what they discussed.
Jan. 5: Delisi meets with Toomey and another man, the documents show. Black said he does not know what they discussed.
Feb. 2: Perry issues executive order mandating the vaccine for schoolgirls.
Feb. 21: House public health committee passes bill aimed at overriding Perry's order.

Merck suspends lobbying for HPV vaccine

Dallas Morning News News for Dallas, Texas Latest News: "TRENTON, N.J. – Merck & Co., bowing to pressure from parents and medical groups, is immediately suspending its lobbying campaign to persuade state legislatures to mandate that adolescent girls get the company's new vaccine against cervical cancer as a requirement for school attendance. "

Cervical Cancer Vaccine Vote Expected Today

cbs11tv.com - Cervical Cancer Vaccine Vote Expected Today: "Every three months, Amanda Vail will relive her rape as she undergoes another pap smear to check for cervical cancer.

The man who attacked her in December gave her a virulent strain of the human papillomavirus, or HPV. Vail's doctor told her she has up to a 70 percent chance of developing cancer."

Should HPV Vac. be mandated

Democrat & Chronicle: Local News: "Dr. Mary Beth Robinson, a pediatrician at Twelve Corners Pediatrics in Brighton, was likely one of the first in our area last summer to order the newly approved vaccine that protects against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, a virus that causes cervical cancer. "

Will states follow Texas on HPV shot mandate? ... American Medical News

AMNews: Feb. 26, 2007. Will states follow Texas on HPV shot mandate? ... American Medical News: "Pediatric and family physician leaders are taken aback by the speed with which Merck & Co. Inc. has lobbied states to mandate its new human papillomavirus vaccine. Academy officials say safety and cost concerns about the cervical cancer immunization need to be addressed before school girls are forced to get it."

Dallas County Offers HPV Vaccine - Health

Dallas County Offers HPV Vaccine - Health: "Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) is now offering Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine through its adult immunizations clinic. In June 2006, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to recommend the first vaccine developed to prevent cervical cancer and other diseases in females caused by certain types of genital human papillomavirus (HPV)."

Even doctors disagree about HPV

LOCAL NEWS KHOU.com News for Houston, Texas: "As pharmaceutical giant Merck pumps out more of its newest vaccine, the controversy over the so-called cervical cancer shot continues to grow. "

Lawmakers Hear Cervical Cancer Vaccine Testimony

cbs11tv.com - Lawmakers Hear Cervical Cancer Vaccine Testimony: "Burcham was among dozens of people who had hoped to testify late Monday at the first public hearing on Gov. Rick Perry's order requiring schoolgirls to be inoculated against strains of the human papillomavirus that cause 70 percent of cervical cancer cases."