"According to the prosecutors, Glaxo paid the clinic in
southwestern Russia $50,000 to conduct the trials, which made some
children ill.
“According to the contract, only healthy children can take part in
this experiment,” said a spokeswoman for the Volgograd region
prosecutors, Lydia Sergeyeva. “In this case all children were sent
for trials, healthy or unhealthy, and many of them had been
diagnosed with diseases.
”They had no right to put children with health problems through
these clinical tests because ... it can lead to a deterioration in
the child’s condition, as happened with one girl for instance.“
Sergeyeva told Reuters of a 2-1/2-year-old girl whose neurological
illness progressed sharply after she was vaccinated. The girl can
hardly speak and shows other signs of arrested development, she
said. Glaxo said the tests were part of a wider clinical trial
programme involving 5,700 children across Europe, including around
1,000 in Russia. The project is designed to evaluate the
effectiveness of different vaccines against varicella, or
chickenpox, and involves Glaxo vaccines that are already approved
for use." - MosNews.com
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
Congratulations to Virginia Governor Tim Kaine for having the wisdom
and vision to amend the nation's first HPV vaccine mandate to an
"opt-in" and not an "opt-out" requirement for girls entering the
sixth grade. Virginia parents will now have, in the Governor's
words, "complete discretion" in choosing whether or not their 11
year old daughters will get three doses of HPV vaccine. Parents will
not have to sign a written statement declining the vaccine for
records kept by state government health officials.
Governor Kaine and Virginia legislators have come under intense
pressure by Merck lobbyists seeking to persuade Virginia and many
other states to mandate that girls entering sixth grade get three
doses of GARDASIL, a vaccine fast tracked at the FDA and quickly
recommended in 2006 by the CDC for girls entering puberty. However,
there has been a nationwide parent backlash to the aggressive
advertising and lobbying campaign by Merck to require use of
GARDASIL for young school girls.
Parent-led organizations, such as NVIC, have opposed vaccine
mandates citing lack of vaccine safety and efficacy data for girls
under age 16 and questioning the rationale for mandated use of a
vaccine for an infection that cannot be transmitted in the public
setting for a cancer that has dropped 74 percent in the past four
decades because routine pap screening has become standard health
care for women in America. Other parent-led organizations oppose the
government requiring pre-adolescent girls to use a vaccine for a
sexually transmitted disease before they are sexually active because
it potentially interferes with parental influence in the teaching of
moral values.
Governor Kaine did the right thing: after weighing the benefits and
risks of signing the HPV vaccine mandate, he amended it to reflect
the will of the people. He gave back to parents and pediatricians
the decision of whether or not an 11 year old girl living in
Virginia should get three doses of HPV vaccine. And he wisely
rejected the idea that the names of those who decline HPV vaccine
for their daughters should be put on an "opt-out" list kept by state
health officials.
Governors in every state would do well to take note of the vision
that Governor Kaine has demonstrated and follow his lead. Education,
not coercion, is the best way to encourage citizens to take
responsibility for the health care choices they make for themselves
and their children. Cost and access barriers to vaccine use can be
lowered through legislation without using legislation to force
vaccine use upon citizens against their will.
Kaine proposes HPV vaccine amendment; restaurant smoking ban
Daily Press, VA
March 26, 2007
By KRISTEN GELINEAU
Associated Press Writer
Click here for the URL:
RICHMOND, Va. -- Gov. Timothy M. Kaine on Monday proposed an
amendment that would make it easier for parents to exempt their
daughters from receiving a vaccine for the sexually transmitted
virus that can cause cervical cancer.
Kaine also amended a bill that would require restaurants that allow
smoking to alert patrons. The governor broadened it to ban smoking
in restaurants.
The General Assembly will reconvene for a one- day session April 4
to consider Kaine's actions.
Last month, the House and Senate passed bills to require all girls
entering the sixth grade to get the vaccine for the human
papillomavirus, or HPV.
Del. Phillip Hamilton's bill requires parents wishing to exempt
their children from the vaccine to fill out a form from the State
Board of Health Regulations for the Immunization of School Children.
Kaine's amendment would eliminate the need for parents or guardians
to submit written requests for their children to opt out of the
vaccine, called Gardasil.
"While I believe that this vaccine shows great promise for
preventing cancer, I believe that the decision to administer this
vaccine should be made by parents," Kaine said in a statement. "My
amendments further clarify the provision that a girl's parent or
guardian has complete discretion to decide whether their child
should be vaccinated."
Virginia's legislature was the first to pass a bill mandating the
vaccine for girls, according to the National Conference of State
Legislatures. Texas Gov. Rick Perry sidestepped the legislature and
ordered the shots for girls there, but lawmakers are considering
overriding that order.
Bills were introduced in about 20 states to require the vaccine, but
some have backed off because of concerns over the vaccine's safety
and protests from conservatives who say requiring it promotes
promiscuity and erodes parents' rights.
Kaine amended a bill requiring Virginia restaurants that allow
smoking to post "Smoking Permitted" signs at their entrances.
Kaine's amendment would ban smoking in all Virginia restaurants.
Del. H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, proposed the legislation as an
alternative to a sweeping ban on public smoking proposed by Sen.
Brandon Bell, in the hopes that the bill would eventually encourage
most restaurants to go smoke-free.
Under Griffith's bill, however, restaurants displaying the smoking
permitted signs would no longer be required to offer a nonsmoking
section. That drew the criticism of public health advocates, who
said the provision thwarted efforts to protect diners and restaurant
workers from secondhand smoke.
"I appreciate the patron's intent with this legislation, but felt
amendments were necessary," Kaine said in a statement. "I remain
opposed to a widespread, general ban on smoking in public. This
bill, with my amendment, is narrowly targeted to prevent smoking in
restaurants, which is an important step to protect the health of
both patrons and employees."
Messages left for Hamilton and Griffith were not immediately
returned Monday.
On the Net:
General Assembly:
http://legis.state.va.us/
CDC's HPV vaccine page:
http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/STDFact-HPV- vaccine.htm
*************************************************************
National Vaccine Information Center
voice: 703-938-dpt3
NVIC E-News is a free service of the National Vaccine Information
Center and is supported through
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NVIC is funded through the financial support of its members and does
not receive any government subsidies. Barbara Loe Fisher, President
and Co- founder.
Learn more about vaccines, diseases and how to protect your informed
consent rights at
www.nvic.org