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... between them and the lobbyist and the increased budget, got GoodHair to sign an executive order requiring all 6th grade girls in Texas to receive the Gardisil HPV vaccination.

Texas governor orders anti-cancer vaccine for schoolgirls
By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON
Associated Press Writer

AUSTIN, Texas — Bypassing the Legislature altogether, Republican Gov. Rick Perry issued an order Friday making Texas the first state to require that schoolgirls get vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.

By employing an executive order, Perry sidestepped opposition in the Legislature from conservatives and parents' rights groups who fear such a requirement would condone premarital sex and interfere with the way Texans raise their children.

Beginning in September 2008, girls entering the sixth grade — meaning, generally, girls ages 11 and 12 — will have to receive Gardasil, Merck & Co.'s new vaccine against strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV.

Perry also directed state health authorities to make the vaccine available free to girls 9 to 18 who are uninsured, enrolled in Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program or whose insurance does not cover vaccines. In addition, he ordered that Medicaid offer Gardasil to women ages 19 to 21.

Perry, a conservative Christian who opposes abortion and stem-cell research using embryonic cells, counts on the religious right for his political base. But he has said the cervical cancer vaccine is no different from the one that protects children against polio.

"The HPV vaccine provides us with an incredible opportunity to effectively target and prevent cervical cancer," Perry said.

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 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.

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

The order is effective until Perry or a successor changes it, and the Legislature has no authority to repeal it, said Perry spokeswoman Krista Moody. Moody said the Texas Constitution permits the governor, as head of the executive branch, to order other members of the executive branch to adopt rules like this one.

But opponents said Perry should have let the Legislature decide whether to impose a mandate.

"He's circumventing the will of the people," said Dawn Richardson, president of Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education, a citizens group that fought for the right to opt out of other vaccine requirements. "There are bills filed. There's no emergency except in the boardrooms of Merck, where this is failing to gain the support that they had expected."

Texas allows parents to opt out of inoculations by filing an affidavit objecting to the vaccine on religious or philosophical reasons. Even with such provisions, however, conservative groups say such requirements interfere with parents' rights to make medical decisions for their children.

Legislative aides said they are looking for ways to make it even easier for parents to get around the mandate.

The federal government approved Gardasil in June, and a government advisory panel has recommended that all girls get the shots at 11 and 12, before they are likely to be sexually active.

The New Jersey-based drug company could generate billions in sales if Gardasil — at $360 for the three-shot regimen — were made mandatory across the country. Most insurance companies now cover the vaccine, which has been shown to have no serious side effects.

Merck spokeswoman Janet Skidmore would not say how much the company is spending on lobbyists or how much it has donated to Women in Government. Susan Crosby, the group's president, also declined to specify how much the drug company gave.

A top official from Merck's vaccine division sits on Women in Government's business council, and many of the bills around the country have been introduced by members of Women in Government.

January 31. 2007 Indiana Senate reworks HPV vaccine bill


Bill would give parents information on vaccine to prevent cancer
By DEANNA MARTIN
Associated Press Writer

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- A Senate committee watered down a bill Wednesday that would have vaccinated most sixth-grade girls against a sexually transmitted disease that can cause cervical cancer, a move designed to address concerns from some family groups.

The new version of the legislation would send home information about the link between human papillomavirus, or HPV, and cervical cancer and would tell parents that an HPV vaccine is available.

The amended version pleased some opponents who wanted parents to have more choice over whether their children were vaccinated. But supporters of the original plan noted parents could have opted out of the vaccine and that girls would not have been prevented from enrolling in school without it.

''It seems to me that parent has a choice either way,'' said Sen. Gary Dillon, R-Columbia City.

The revised bill passed the Senate Health Committee 11-0 and now moves to the full Senate for consideration.

Bill sponsor Sen. Connie Lawson, R-Danville, said she thought most parents would get their daughters the vaccine, which is given as a series of three shots over six months.

''This bill is about saving the lives of Hoosier women,'' Lawson said.

Gardasil, made by Merck and approved by the federal government in June, protects girls and women against strains of HPV that are responsible for most cases of cervical cancer. A government advisory panel has recommended that all girls get the shots at 11 and 12, before they are likely to be sexually active.

At least 18 states are debating whether to require the vaccine, but no state has yet to add Gardasil to the list of vaccinations youngsters must have under law to be enrolled in school.

Some conservatives and parents'-rights groups say such requirements would encourage premarital sex and could interfere with the way parents raise their children.

Indiana Health Commissioner Judy Monroe dismissed arguments that the vaccine would promote promiscuity.

''There's no evidence that seat belts have increased reckless driving,'' she noted. ''There's no evidence that when we get tetanus shots, we seek rusty nails.''

The watered-down bill displeased some advocates, who said lawmakers needed to do more.

Kelsey Kauffman, who has worked with low-income children in Greencastle, said children with irresponsible parents are more likely to be sexually active at an early age and could be exposed to HPV. But because their parents often are not very involved in their lives, the chances of them getting a non-mandated vaccine are lower than other children, she said.

''My concern is that the children that we most want to cover are the ones who are least likely to get the vaccine,'' she said.

Some opponents of the original bill questioned the safety of the vaccine and said more studies should be done.

Monica Boyer, with Indiana Voice for the Family, said Merck stands to make billions from the vaccine if states require it. Several health officials who spoke for the bill Wednesday had done business with Merck in the past, although they said Merck did not urge them to speak in support of the bill.

Lawson said it didn't matter who makes the vaccine.

''Have you ever dreamt that someday we might have a vaccine against cancer? And it's here,'' Lawson said. ''What difference does it make what company makes it? If it's there, and if it's available, why wouldn't we want to protect the health of Hoosier women?''

Indiana's health commissioner agreed.

''To have a vaccine that prevents cancer is a milestone in public health,'' Monroe said. ''We have eradicated smallpox. We have almost eradicated polio, at least in this country. We have an opportunity now to eradicate cervical cancer, and we should all join together to do so.''