The Cervical Cancer Vaccine
By Jeffry Fawcett, March 13, 2007 in the Editorials blog
The pharmaceutical company Merck is promoting a vaccine called Gardasil, used to immunize against HPV, human papilloma virus. HPV causes cervical cancer. After FDA approval last June, Merck launched a marketing campaign to convince the CDC and state legislatures to make vaccination of pre-teen girls mandatory. The CDC didn’t bite but at least 12 states, including California, did.
At $300 a pop, Merck stands to make a boatload of money. [Read more…]