February 7, 2011
BY MARIAN GREENE "TRUTH ABOUT GARDASIL"
http://truthaboutgardasil.org/
Truth About Gardasil was recently given the opportunity to ask Dr. Diane Harper some questions about the HPV vaccines, she helped create. Below you will find the first and second installments of our three part series.
When even one of the developers of a vaccine recognizes and discloses its dangers and limitations, shouldn't the FDA and CDC listen?
Truth About Gardasil recently had the opportunity to discuss Gardasil®, the HPV vaccine manufactured by Merck Pharmaceuticals, with one of its lead developers, Dr. Diane Harper. In this first installment of our interview, Dr.Harper sets the record straight on several questions surrounding this supposed "miracle vaccine".
Harper, a Medical Doctor who is internationally known as a clinician and researcher, also earned a Master's Degree in Public Health (MPH). She is probably most well known for her role in the development of Gardasil® and in the readying of this vaccine for its public release. She helped in every phase from recruiting trial participants to providing medical care during the trial to collecting specimens and interpretation of the final data.
There has been much controversy and debate about Gardasil® from its very beginning. Questions have been raised not only about its safety, but also the advertisements and marketing plan by Merck. Gardasil® started out being marketed to young women ages 9 to 26, as cervical cancer prevention in the "One Less" campaign. According to neontommy.com, Merck won awards for this by "creating a market out of thin air". Since then, the FDA has granted approval to not only market it to boys of the same age range, but has given permission to add anal cancer to the list of diseases that Gardasil® can prevent. . See Gardasil's Marketing Raises Ethical Issues Blog
Harper says, “It has been a plan for Merck from the beginning". When we asked her about this she stated, “Unfortunately, the FDA has given Merck a blanket approval to use Gardasil® in males and females 9-26 years old without making it clear to parents or males/females that the only data for male cancer preventions is in MSM (gay men) NOT in heterosexual men". She goes on to say, "For men who have sex with men, there is a benefit to using Gardasil in the prevention of anal intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 and 3. However, in the case of heterosexual men, this was never tested, and there is no penile cancer prevention seen in heterosexual men".
Harper also tells us that for people who have a current diagnosis of HPV , "Neither Gardasil® nor Cervarix® will cure or treat the current HPV, so there is no reason to vaccinate for current disease. A previous diagnosis of HPV does not preclude the use of one of the vaccines - data show similar efficacies in those with past HPV as those who are HPV naive. The reasons for adverse reactions are not clear. There is a remote immune hypothesis that someone with a large HPV infection may react poorly to a HPV vaccine, but this is hypothetical and theoretical".
When we asked Harper about these adverse reactions, and if there was a chance specifically of developing auto-immune conditions, she said, "After getting Gardasil®, yes". The question about whether people with an auto- immune condition were excluded from the trials, Harper stated , "Getting an autoimmune disease from a vaccine is very different than having an autoimmune disease first and then being vaccinated. Gardasil®/Merck is now undertaking trials to vaccinate women with auto immune diseases".
We questioned her further about the risks versus benefits of the HPV vaccines, and how long these "benefits" would last, as well as her infamous statement, "A pap smear never harmed anyone". The answers to those questions and many more will appear in the next segment on our conversation with Dr. Diane Harper.