Conservatives Wield FDA Data on HPV Vaccine

Cite health risks in opposing vaccination of teenage girls
By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff
Posted May 24, 2007 3:31 PM CDT
Conservatives Wield FDA Data on HPV Vaccine
US NEWS MED-HPV 2 PH   (KRT Photos)

A group of religious conservatives has marshalled unreleased FDA data as a weapon in the battle against  Gardasil, the new cervical cancer vaccine. The data indicates health problems in women taking the vaccine, but  drugmaker Merck and the FDA both insist that the negative effects are probably unrelated to the vaccine. Critics oppose legislation to require administering the vaccine in schools.

They feel vaccinating teenage girls for human papillomavirus, which causes most cervical cancers, conflicts with the message of teen abstinence. Health issues include pain, blood clots, and birth abnormalities. But doctors report all adverse effects to the FDA, whether or not they believe them to be connected to a particular drug. (More Gardasil stories.)

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