How much Gardasil will California purchase at taxpayers’ expense?

Rulers of law

Did you hear that?

That was Rick Perry breathing a major sigh of relief.

Because now he isn’t the worst when it comes to selling out children for drug company profits.

No, starting today, that honor can be bestowed upon Governor Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown.

It appears that Merck may have finally succeeded in purchasing a very lucrative new law that roughly shoves aside every California parent of a school-age child.

What’s worse, it potentially puts every one of those children in grave jeopardy. And, in the nation’s most populous state, that is a LOT of children!

Cali-for-sale

Late last week Gov. Brown signed an outrageous bill I told you about a few weeks ago when the bill was still pending. It allows children as young as 12 to consent to vaccinations that prevent sexually transmitted diseases.

And here’s the kicker: The children can give their consent without their parents’ permission. In fact, their parents don’t even have to be informed that the vaccines are given!

The bill doesn’t mention any vaccines by name, but everyone knows what they’re talking about: Gardasil, the HPV vaccine that medical mainstreamers (and California politicians) like to characterize as a “cervical cancer” vaccine — which it certainly is NOT.

But even if Gardasil really was a magical cervical cancer preventive, it’s just astounding that the state government has simply removed parents from this discussion of their children’s sexual health.

Doctors, state politicians, school administrators — they all have a voice here.

Parents? Sorry, you’re not invited.

What makes this situation just thoroughly deplorable is that Gardasil has been linked to so many horrendous side effects (including scores of deaths) in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. And that’s got to give ANY parent pause.

So it’s as if Gov. Brown and the state legislators are saying to parents, “We’ve heard about those dangers and we’ve decided that you don’t need to concern yourselves.”

Of course, executives at Merck (the maker of Gardasil) would probably be quite happy if nobody ever gave a thought to those inconvenient VAERS reports. And of course, sometimes money can make a lot of concern go away.

According to Pharmalot, CalWatchdog, and a Merck political action committee report, 15 members of the state assembly and 10 state senators who voted for the bill all received campaign donations from Merck last year.

And earlier this summer Assemblywoman Toni Atkins (who introduced the original bill) told Ed Silverman of Pharmalot that she was never contacted by Merck (the maker of Gardasil) or offered any campaign contributions from the company.

But now Silverman reports that Merck’s 2010 PAC report reveals a generous donation to Atkins.

In addition, Atkins also told Pharmalot that representatives at the American College of Gynecology (ACOG) helped her gather data and craft the bill. And what do you know! — Merck donated nearly half a million dollars to ACOG last year!

But before you go round up an angry mob, this law has one more insult for every California taxpayer…

Gardasil costs nearly $400 for the required three rounds of the vaccine. But if a doctor convinces a child to get the vaccine without her parents’ knowledge, guess who pays the tab? California — the state that’s famously one of the most cash-strapped states in the U.S.

Multiply that $400 by hundreds, maybe thousands, and the taxpayers of California can rest assured that they’re sweetening Merck’s bottom line.

And before you start thinking that this is just one more reason you’re happy not to live in Cali, there are actually 10 other states that already have laws similar to this new California law. You can find out if your state is one of them here.

Sources:
“California Gov Signs Controversial Vaccine Law” Ed Silverman, Pharmalot, 10/10/11, pharmalot.com

“California Pols, Gardasil and Merck Financing” Ed Silverman, Pharmalot, 9/9/11, pharmalot.com

“CA Parental Rights Victorious – Temporarily – CA AB 499 In Suspense File” Camille Giglio, Pipeline News, 8/22/11, pipelinenews.org