A couple of links

[sarahmichigan]

SYLVIA BROWNE IS A BIG FAT FRAUD

Have you read recently in the news about that boy who was kidnapped and found alive many years later? Sylvia Browne, supposed psychic, not only told his parents he was kidnapped by a Hispanic with dreadlocks (which also makes her a racist bitch) but that Shawn was dead. He turned out to be alive and was kidnapped by a white dude, no dreadlocks...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw_7sMKR8jo

TEXAS MANDATES HPV VACCINE-- HOORAY!

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-vaccine3feb03,1,2886229.story?coll=la-news-a_section

This is a great first step to reducing the occurrences of cervical cancer. I'm surprised that Texas, not known to be a bastion of liberal thinking, is doing this, but I'm glad they're standing up to fundies who think it'll encourage unsafe sex and the crazies who think that vaccines cause autism.

I'm not a fan of Big Pharma, but just because they'll profit doesn't make this a bad decision. Vaccines-- in general, not this one specifically-- are a blessing. If your kid has an allergy to an ingredient in a vaccine, it's one thing to ask for an exemption in one particular case. But wide-spread fear-mongering about the supposed dangers to the average child from vaccination is EVIL. People who refuse to vaccinate their kids for no legitimate medical reason should be investigated for child abuse and neglect. I am completely serious.

Comments

[guttaperk.livejournal.com]

I'm getting over demonisation of Big Pharma (not that you did- but others do...)

Many of the supposed evils of Big Pharma are really attributable to
- ever-rising (and often unreasonable) expectations of positive outcomes,
- doctors who don't read or think for themselves,
- people who overgeneralise.

:-)

[melstav]

I'm waiting for it to be cleared approved for use in men. Sure, we don't have to worry about cervical cancer (not having a cervix) but we can still carry the virus, and pass it on to others. Stopping the spread of HPV shouldn't be the sole responsibility of women.

I don't know that I necessarily agree with making it mandatory for school enrollment, either. HPV isn't like Measles, Mumps, or Meningitis. The whole point of mandatory vaccinations is to prevent an epidemic spread of disease in the school. HPV is spread primarily through sexual contact, unlike those other viruses. I'm not saying that I don't think it's a good idea to give the vaccine to our children, because I do.

Having spent a summer working for one of the Big Pharma, and having spent a fair amount of time over the last year, digging through FDA regs, I've developed an appreciation of the absolutely ludicrous amount of money involved in developing a new drug or a new piece of diagnostic equipment, and getting it approved for use in the United States.

[meecie.livejournal.com]

Right now, I can't even get the HPV vaccine, and not for lack of trying. My health care system will *only* approve it for girls and women under the age of 26.

[melstav]

That's because the original clinical trials Merck submitted to the FDA only included female participants age 26 and under. Since that's the only population that the FDA has "safety and effectiveness" data for, those are the only people the FDA has said it is allowed to be prescribed for.

This Fox news article points out that Merck is currently in the middle of clinical trials with women over 26 and boys.

[meecie.livejournal.com]

"Since that's the only population that the FDA has "safety and effectiveness" data for, those are the only people the FDA has said it is allowed to be prescribed for."

Not necessarily. Drugs are prescribed "off label" all the time. My clinic has just said, since they have a limited supply, they're giving it all to younger women/girls. I don't necessarily object to that in theory. It's more a matter of "I don't want cervical cancer, dammit. Give me my shot!" (me, me, it's all about me!)

[aiela.livejournal.com]

From what someone from Texas was posting, the governor got a lot of campaign dollars from Merck, but I still think mandating this is a good idea.

I still need to find out if Britt's insurance will pay for it or not, her doc didn't want to give it to her until I found out, because it costs $150.

But she'll be getting it.

[stacycat69.livejournal.com]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/02/02/tx.cervical.cancer.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latest

1) He issues and executive order, which means congress didnt get any say in it.

2) He received 6k from Merck in his campaign. Granted, not a lot, but still.

3) There is no mention of how it will be paid for. Damnit, if its required for school, there should be programs to help pay for it. that said, I need to get it in the next few months before I turn 26.

"Merck is bankrolling efforts to pass state laws across the country mandating Gardasil for girls as young as 11 or 12. It doubled its lobbying budget in Texas and has funneled money through Women in Government, an advocacy group made up of female state legislators around the country.

Perry has several ties to Merck and Women in Government. One of the drug company's three lobbyists in Texas is Mike Toomey, Perry's former chief of staff. His current chief of staff's mother-in-law, Texas Republican state Rep. Dianne White Delisi, is a state director for Women in Government.

Perry also received $6,000 from Merck's political action committee during his re-election campaign."

[pastry-i-make.livejournal.com]

And after that show she was going to charge them money if they wanted to talk to her more.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_earthshine_/]

It just so happens i want to respectfully question one item each here.

Sylvia Browne, supposed psychic, not only told his parents he was kidnapped by a Hispanic with dreadlocks (which also makes her a racist bitch)...

I don't know the whole story here, but why does this, by itself, make her a racist bitch? I mean, never mind that she's probably a scam-artist or whatever -- i'm not defending that. But if she seriously thought, for whatever reason, that these were the facts behind the kidnapping, why is it racist of her just to say that?

I do agree that it's one of those "awareness" issues -- where one must be aware that they may be reinforcing a stereotype by saying what they wish too -- but i don't think simply saying it makes it racist. Maybe there's more to the story here?

People who refuse to vaccinate their kids for no legitimate medical reason should be investigated for child abuse and neglect.

Well, what kind of refusals and vaccinations are we talking about here?

Honestly, my wife and I question every vaccine we're offered for our kids. We balance each based on the likelihood of contracting the disease, the pain/risk/treatment of actually contracting the disease, known risks/side-effects of the vaccine, the amount of time the vaccine's been in use, etc.

Obviously, well-established low-risk vaccines that prevent deadly/damaging illnesses are no-brainers. Frankly, though, unless we're convinced that there is a good case for using the vaccine, we pass on it. Even if there's no documented medical risk to it, just hitting a kid's immune system with something like that is itself a risk. If there's no clear benefit/savings, why do it?

As it turns out, most vaccines we run in to seem worth it, but we've passed on a few that are "standards" offered without question by our pediatrician.

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

Sylvia Browne preys on the grieving and credulous. Most crime is committed within the same race-- i.e. whites preying on whites, blacks on blacks, and so on. Her bringing up the specter of the scary dark man really, really pissed me off. Do you know how often people who make up claims about abduction (like the woman who killed her own children but claimed that she was car-jacked) blame it on some dark-skinned person? Brown is a fucking fraud, fucking racist bitch. I hate her guts after watching that video.

I have no problem with parents educating themselves on the risks of various vaccines and refusing one or two for legitimate medical reasons. I think flu vaccines, for instance, are kind of a 50-50 thing, and I never get them.

But when a parent bases a decision to not give kids the normal vaccinations against the really scary stuff on New Age mumbo-jumbo, junk science, and conspiracy theory, they're too stupid and irresponsible to raise children, IMO.

I think modern parents are really soft and have never had to suffer what parents and children of previous ages have. They never went through the epidemics of the past and don't realize how really painful and potentially deadly something like whooping cough can be, for instance. I'd like to strip those people of the immunities they're parents lovingly gave them and put them 150 years back in the middle of an epidemic and see what they think about vaccines, then.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_earthshine_/]

Re Browne: It sounds like in her case, she's got an actual negative motive and/or track record going, which is obviously a different story.

In the general case, i'm down with, as i said, encouraging people to be aware of the social ramifications of a claim, and/or the possibilities that subconscious suggestion can play a part in filling in "gaps" when trying to reconstruct information. After those things have been carefully considered, though, i wouldn't want someone biasing what they truly believe to be fact just to avoid a racial issue -- in some ways, that's more racist than just being honest, i think.

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

I don't believe in psychic ability or being able to contact the dead, and therefore think all psychics are either liars or self-deluded. Sylvia Browne has shown that she has very few scruples about taking money from the grieving and giving them bullshit "information," so I'm more likely to inclue her in the "liar" camp than the "self-deluded" camp.

Knowing that she's an opportunistic liar just makes her statements about a dark-skinned boogey-man that much more morally reprehensible.

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

If my tone is angry, it's not directed at you, specifically. I've had debates with others on-line about the safety of vaccines and the whole autism-vaccine NON-link, and the ignorance and inability to think through statistics, risk assessments, and what constitutes good science vs. conpsiracy theory is really disheartening.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_earthshine_/]

I didn't take anything personally. No worries.

I guess we land somewhere on the spectrum, like everyone. In our case, we might be near the middle.

We're both pretty scientifically-backgrounded folks, so we definitely don't take chances with the biggies. At the same time, we also probably err most "neutral" cases on the side of not messing with the system. Some might consider some of our outlooks "hippie"-ish, but i think we just like to keep a stricter eye on how much we don't know. A few studies and a few years' use doesn't necessarily constitute a solid case for use of a vaccine in our eyes, for example. If there's a real threat, we'll take it, of course, but if it's something low-risk where we can just watch for symptoms and treat accordingly, we'd just as soon pass.

It helps that we have a pediatrician whose very respectful and empowering about this stuff. He'll answer the questions and not pressure us either way, which saves us having to be rocket-science experts in everything just to make a case for ourselves either way.

We're definitely not the type to blanketly denounce all vaccines as evil or anything, though, which sounds more like that you're talking about. Yes, the world was an ugly place without 'em, and we're down with that.

[dionysus1999.livejournal.com]

An arguement could be made that people who don't get their children vaccinated are just self-selecting to have their line terminated the next time a major epidemic sweeps the area. It's mostly just dumb ass middle class white folks, after all. Got plenty of them to go 'round.