Yeaterday I testified before the Florida House in support of the Gardasil Vaccine Bill.

Some background...

The bill was originally written to require that all girls entering the 6th grade beginning 2009-2010 would have to have the series of shots before they started school.

The Committee appointed to hear the Bill is composed of 10 Republicans (R) and 5 Democrats (D).

The R's objected and got the sponsor to change the Bill to include an OPT OUT clause that meant the if, FOR ANY REASON, the parent did not want their child to get the shot, they would just have to sign a form stating just that and no shots would be given.

I flew to Tallahassee yesterday with the Sponsor, Rep Homan, and he informed me that he had been called the previous night by the Chairman of the Committee (a R) and that the R's were going to put an Amendment on the agenda that would eliminate the Vaccine shots altogether and beginning in 2009 require that the schools send a note home to the parents informing them of the availability of the vaccine and the HPV connection to Cervical cancer. The parents would not be required to even sign that they got the note.

I was informed that we would now be speaking against the Amendment first and then to the Bill second.

Rep Homan had lined up the following speakers in support of the Bill without the proposed Amendment in order of our appearence:
1. A GYN of 30 years and the past President of the State's GYN Society.

2. The Communicable Disease Director of the Fl Dept Of Health.

3. Me

4. A housewife who has tested positive for HPV-16.

5. A 17 yr old highschool female, and

6. A spokesperson from the Am Cancer Society.

Pretty impressive group, especially the #3 guy.

I really can't go into all that was said but the information from the 2 doctors was undisputable. Mine was emotional as was the housewife with 2 teenage daughters and the 17 year old student was blunt, frank and unbelievable.

It was sooooo obvious from the first speaker that the R's minds were already made up. You wouldn't have believed the STUPID and I really mean STUPID questions repeatedly asked of the "experts". For instance..."Can you guarantee that this Vaccine is 100% effective?" or "Can you guarantee that this Vaccine will kill 100% of Cervical cancers?"

After we all finished speaking, the R's did not have ANY speakers lined up at all so NOT ONE fact was challenged.

The Chairman quickly asked for a VOICE vote on the Amendment and even though it sounded even, he quickly declared that the Amendment passed and offically it was recored as 10 for, 5 against.

The Bill, as amended was next voted on and it passed 15 to 0.

Result....Assuming the Senate passes it, Florida will now only require that starting in 2009 the school will hand the student (I assume females only)a pamplet or something that the student is supposed to give to the parent that will talk about the Vaccine and the HPV connection to cervical cancer.

I am so mad I can't see straight as they say. I can't believe as a R myself that they are supposed to represent me.

Hey David.
Thank You for Trying!.
You should have requested a hand vote. 15 people, come on, how long could it take.
I am a democrat, but this Congress and the Senate needs to come together as ONE VOICE, and that should be OUR VOICE.
They are on teams against each other, instead of working together for WHAT IS RIGHT...
Our Constitutions first three words are
WE THE PEOPLE!!!!
It does not say We the Democrats, or We the Republicans.
Now I'm getting MAD.
I am a religious person. But the Far Right Religous groups is who you can hang that vote on! PERIOD! They carry a lot of clout.(AND VOTES)
I have nothing bad to say about the far right religious except sometimes they are short sighted, They are trying to get morals back in our Great Country.
I don't know if your keeping up on current evens, BUT OUR COUNTRY IS GOING TO HELL IN A HAND BASKET!

OK, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! No Politics, No Religion.

Lets keep it on OUR WAR against cancer.

I gotta go check my Blood Pressure.
PeteyB

David,

I can certainly understand how frustrated you must be. You have done a wonderful thing by testifying and it is a shame that the result was the way it was. It doesn't surprise me and unfortunately, this scenario will probably repeat itself in many areas.

With the outcry that occurred with the announcement of the vaccine, it is just what I expected. It's a shame that political philosophies have to enter into something as important as cancer prevention.

Please don't let this discourage you from continuing on with your activism. I give you a tremendous amount of credit for what you did and I'm sure that everyone here is proud of you.

Jerry

David,

A similar bill was talked about in the current Legislative session here in GA. There was a lot of uproar against the bill as another step of the government taking the place of the parent's decision making. The bill had no chance here.

Bill D.

Since I doubt that very many of you have an opportunity [or interest] to read the Baby Center. com website - [a hugh childbirth and parenting website and publisher of at least 2 major magazines for new parents] I have read it off and on for 3 yrs. since the birth of my 1st granddaughter. The HPV vaccine has been a matter of great debate on that web site-the debate has had Nothing to do with Democrat or Republican politics- but with #1.A parents' right to choose for their child what is best. #2. The fear of the unknown and not being able to get enough informed information about the vaccine. #3. That this vaccine might lead to more sexual promiscuity. Because this is the younger generation talking, I have watched this dabate with interest over the last 18 months. I have encouraged my DIL [who is an RN] to get my granddaughter vaccinated- that reamains to be seen] but I do believe that to think of this as a "party politics" thing is wrong. Don't know how many of you are old enough to remember when the polio vaccine came out- but I was a child and there was polio in our town [my 1st and 2nd cousins were both stricken- one lived her whole life on crutches, the other was in an iron lung for 3 yrs and then died] and there was a RAGING debate about whether or not to vaccinate the children-[ my parents had my brother and me vaccinated] Don't lose sight that there is a very vocal group of parents right now that think childhood Autism and ADS are the result of many of the innoculations that are being given infants and toddlers. These medical explorations and advances should be beyond politics.This journey to protect our kids and grandkids reaches far higher plateau. Amy in the Oz

This is less about Republicans and Democrats as it is about the R's desire to pander to the conservative religious right base that brought them many votes. This is not about sex it's about cancer. But the arguments about it making sex seem safe (stupid) are at the forefront of the argument. We vaccinate our kids against hep b, which is sexually transmitted; the vaccine had the same FDA approval process first. No objection, no talk of it leading to early engagement in sex, nothing. We vaccinate our kids against tetanus, do they want to to go out afterwards and step on nails? Of course not. If a parent thinks that the risk of their kids engaging in sex is more important than that child developing cancer later in life, this is a sad comment on things. This is the first real progress we have made against cancer, and the discussion is largely about parent's rights and sex everywhere. I have sat across from parents that are arguing for their rights, and they don't even have the real information about the vaccine to draw conclusions from in their mental information packs. That tells me that their right's issue is not the real issue to them. If I were to be against something I woud want to be really well versed on it before I got into a debate. As to Jam's reason number two, the info is out there in telephone book thick reams of studies and more if anyone wants to take the time to understand it. But again they do not. They are against it without full knowledge, and it isn't because the knowledge is missing. That has not been my experience in the debates I have engaged in.

Where would we be if people took this path with the polio vaccine

Brian, You are writing from an educated position that is far and above the reach of most of the general population of young parents AND of most politicians. What I posted above is a synoposis of obvservation of what these young mothers are discussing on the Baby Center web site.[ it has nothing to do with MY understanding of the importance of this vaccine] The point of my post was to share here that we have a long way to go to educate younger generations, as you are striving so hard to do- and this education should be outside the realm of politics. [ I'll admit to being really sick of politics] I don't agree with your last couple of sentances because I have read what these young mothers are debating and it doesn't seem to me to be as much about sex as it is about the fear of subjecting their children to the "unknown". We've got the experience of what can happen- they do not have that yet. Our generation [which is a normal progression] needs to comfort and confront their fears, lead them forward, and push the Federal govenment at the same time. I have talked personally to the Mothers of my grandchild's age and they are worried about this vaccine- it has nothing to do with sex or pol;itics- their worry has to do with lack of info or guideance from their trusted pediatriction. Amy

JAM - you know that I respect your opinions, and I never meant to insinuate that you were uniformed. But I would just like to offer this observation. If parents wish to protect their children from all things that they cannot control, they will have to keep them locked in their homes full time. The world is not a safe place and you cannot guarantee that bad things will not happen to you when you walk out into it.

The relative unknowns/risks related to this vaccine are far less than most things that children are exposed to these days, and I do not just mean medicines etc. As to the Federal Government (at least in its current incarnation) they SHOULD be afraid of it. It does not have the American population in a proportionate level of concern compared to big business, and more. I fear we are a distant second or third in their priority lists. If mothers are afraid of the guidance of their pediatricians, they need a new one, just like we say about dentists that do not offer screenings. The information and courses for these doctors about this vaccine have been around long enough for them to get up to speed, even off the Internet in CE courses there. Today parents are too protective. Jeeze, think what it was like decades ago...Oh my God, I drank out of the garden hose, ate a bug or two out of the yard, and some handfuls of dirt as well, and that doesn't even count the things I wouldn

To All,

Fact-This vaccine was/is the most tested vaccine in US history.

Fact-this vaccine has been approved and endorsed by the FDA.

Fact-The FDA has followed 25,000 females who were given 75,000 shots of the vaccine for 5 years without one, as in ONE, complication except local irritations such as redness, swelling, muscle discomfort at the shot site similar to many vaccine shots.

Fact- Over 2,000,000 doses of this vaccine have already been administered over the last 2 years privately without ONE major reaction as explained above.

Fact- From the time Jonas Salk discovered the polio vaccine until the time it was MANDATED only 2 years had passed.

Fact- Each year millions of flu vaccines are administered WITHOUT ANY testing. Each year the flu vaccine is quickly produced based upon what flu strain the experts THINK will affect the US and within 6 months time it is developed and mass produced.

Fact- Unlike most, if not all vaccines, the HPV vaccine is produced synthetically and does not contain live or dead virus cells. Our body produces natural antibodies that are present when the actual virus invades the bodies and are then killed.

Fact- The vaccine was produced to kill HPV strains 6 and 11 which cause 90% of genital warts and 16 and 18 which are Class One Carcinogens that are known to cause 70% of all cervical cancers and 60% of all Oral Pharyngeal cancer. It also causes causes cancers of the Larynx, Anus and Penis and Oral Cavity.

Fact- The vaccine has been proven 100% EFFECTIVE in protecting the female body against those 4 strains.

Fact- In the US alone there are already over 20 million people infected by HPV and 6.2 million people are additionally infected each and every year by HPV.

Fact- HPV is the most common sexually transmitted vitus in the US.

Fact- By age 50 at 80% of women will have acquired the HPV virus in their life. This is known because their bodies have produced the antibodies. The CDC estimates that 80% of the entire US population will have HPV at some point in their lives. How many will have the oncogenic forms is unknown.

Fact- This year 11,000 new cases of cervical cancer will be Dx in the US and 3700 will die.

Fact- Over 9000 new cases of HPV related cancers in AMERICAN MEN each year.

Fact- The HPV virus may lie dormant for DECADES before cellular changes are seen, when as we know it may be too late to deal with.

Fact- This Florida Bill would have required insurance companies to cover the shots and also would have come under the FREE SHOTS PROGRAM for those without insurance. ( Do ya suppose the insurance lobby spent a bunch of money to defeat this????)

Fact- No one argued financial aspects of the Bill.

Fact- The current incident rate of cervical cancer in Florida is 26% higher than the US average.

Fact- The Bill allowed an OPT IN - OPT OUT feature that simply required the parent to sign a form stating they did not want their child to get the vaccine. Parental rights were not usurped. This would have at least focused their attention and required a positive response either way.

Fact- In 1997 Florida MANDATED that school children receive the Hepatitis B vaccine which is also a STD without any fanfare or opposition.

Please ask yourself how could ANYONE object to the passage of this or similar bills.

David and Brian,
Don't be discouraged. Changes will happen in baby steps, one person at a time, who will tell one person who will tell one person. Just like the Gardisil commercial before it was taken off the air.
Sure, its frustrating to create a mere ripple in a endless ocean. But, without you, that ripple would never have a chance to build to the waves of information needed for our society to change.

You are both remarkable human beings and I thank you for all you have done.

Ginny

1st for any parent out there who thinks that there isnt already an amazing # of promiscious teens they are crazy...I worked for planned parenthood..these teens have no shame and def more then one parter...They dont care and disease dosent scare them. I agree vacainating them isnt giving consent for sex...there are soooooo many "KIDS" with cervical cancer it isnt funny .....Lord knows how many will come down with oral cancer ..i can honestly state we had 1-2 bad paps a week on under 18

Ginny,

Thank you for your encouragement and kind words but I don't hold a candle to Brian's effort or knowledge.

FYI, I saw the Garasil commercial last night. Why did you think it was pulled?

It has not been pulled. I talked with them early in the development of this plan, and it was decided that the first phase of the effort shouldn't even talk about the vaccine since Americans didn't know that a virus could cause a cancer. (Even though this has been common knowledge about cervical cancer since the forties. So the first phase of marketing/advertising was just a bunch of women on the screen saying "a virus can cause cancer...I didn't know that". Once that had played for almost four months part two was to talk about how a vaccine could stop the virus. So the first ads were curtailed and the second ones began. In my meeting with them originally I asked them - when you are standing in a mall in front of the map of the mall with all the stores on it, what is the most important part of the map? No one in the room got the answer right. The most important part of the map is not the name of the store you are looking for - it is the little dot that says, "You are here" without that, the map is useless. Same thing when you are marketing a vaccine that battles a virus. You have to define first why the virus is a bad thing and, then you can add to the storyline. Your first job in any endeavor is to define reality for yourself and for the marketplace that you are approaching. I did this for 30 years

Brian and Everyone,

I have already started to make contacts about "the story" and I hope I can get an ear from someone. I have contacts with our local newspapers and local TV affiliates (tax clients actually) and I'm putting the pressure on as we speak. My clients wouldn't be the ones to handle the story so I need to go through them to get to whomever. My wife wants me to write an Editoral but that will be my very last resort. The writer of the article about me (or Buttercup ?) wants to only focus on men and the HPV connection not this story line so he may also make a referral. My goal is to get this exposed nationally somehow but I know I have to generate the local interest first or be a movie star or pro athlete. I don't understand why but being a CPA just doesn't make that cut & I'm too old to make a career change.

There's an article in the Outlook section (week-in-review/opinion section) of today's Washington Post about this very topic.

The decision whether to get vaccinated for HPV was also featured in last week's Health section in the Post.

And David -- you could take your list of facts and, with a little tweaking, submit that as an op-ed to your local paper (St. Pete Times? Tampa Tribune?). The fact that you were invited to testify before a committee of the legislature gives you standing to write about the issue. You could do a short introduction to the list, giving a brief synopsis of your story and noting that your oral cancer was HPV+. Throw in the statistics Brian has cited about the percentage of tobacco users (the typical risk factor) declining while the percentage of oral cancer cases is rising -- particularly among younger people who have never smoked. Then list your facts as bullet points, one by one, with a short closing paragraph summarizing the issue.

You could peg the submission (and even mention it in the introduction) to the forthcoming National Oral Cancer Awareness Week that others have talked about on these boards.

-- Leslie

In today's Health section of the Washington Post, our own Gail Mac responded to last week's article about whether to get vaccinated for HPV (mentioned in my post above) in a terrific letter to the editor that begins:

Lost in the discussion of human papillomavirus and cancer is that high-risk HPV strains are also responsible for an increasing percentage of new cases of head and neck cancer.

She cites the research done at Johns Hopkins into HPV-related oral cancers and notes that her husband's cancer was HPV+. Unfortunately, the letter is not currently available online; I'll keep checking to see if it gets put up.

-- Leslie

For some reason, the Letters to the Editor in the Health section of today's Post are longer in the edition I got at home in northern Virginia than they are in the edition distributed in DC. My paper at home includes Gail's letter; my paper at work doesn't -- and that's the edition that's picked up by the website.

Brian, if you like I'll send you the page with the letter for your files. Let me know.

-- Leslie

please do. I would like to have a copy. And kudos to Gail... efforts here and in the world to spread correct and useful information about our disease, our organization, our experiences, will be the turning points of oral cancers demise as a major killer.

Why am I not surprised by what happened yesterday in Texas? See; http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/26/us/26texas.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

I was particularly upset by 2 statements quoted in the article.

Jerry,

I think the Senate in Tx reacted in 2 ways; 1. They wanted to send a meesage to the Gov saying next time consult us first and 2. The Republicans wanted to demonstrate their control. Up to this point as a Rep I would have voted for Mickey Mouse if he ran on the Rep ticket. I am quickly reevaluating my options. I am forwarding this article to many. Thanks for the site.

The stupidity of their remarks is unbelievable. First, HPV is the MOST COMMON sexually transmitted communicable disease in the US, and the CDC says that 80% of the US population will have some form of it in their lifetimes. Second, no one is being subjected to experimentation here, this is an FDA approved vaccine that went through extensive trials for years before approval. These two guys definately come from the shallow end of the gene pool...

Dr. Maura Gillison made two amazing remarks last weekend at the Head and Neck Cancer Patient Education Day at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore with reference to the HPV Vaccine. It is by far the safest vaccine that probably has ever been developed and the greatest vaccine developed in medical history. This comes from a physican known around the world for her work with oral cancer and HPV.

Marty

I found this yesterday in my quest to understand why politically motivated types are usually from the low end of the gene pool as Brian so eloquently put it and I guess we're not the first generation to realize that. Please read.

Political Truisms

>> Suppose we were idiots...Then suppose we were members of
>> Congress....But then I repeat myself.
>> -Mark Twain
>>
>> I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is
>> like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the
>> handle.
>> -Winston Churchill
>>
>> A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the
>> support of Paul.
>> -George Bernard Shaw
>>
>> Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting
>> on what to have for dinner.
>> -James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)
>>
>> Foreign aid must be defined as a transfer of money from poor people
>> in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.
>> -Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown
>> University
>>
>> Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car
>> keys to teenage boys.
>> -P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian
>>
>> Government's view.....
>>
>> If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it can't
>> move, subsidize it.
>> -Ronald Reagan (1986)
>>
>> I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.
>> -Will Rogers
>>
>> Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean
>> politics won't take an interest in you!
>> -Pericles (430 B.C.)
>>
>> No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in
>> session.
>> -Mark Twain (1866)
>>
>> Talk is cheap...except when Congress does it.
>> -Unknown
>>
>> The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a healthy
>> appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.
>> -Ronald Reagan
>>
>> The inherent "vice" of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the
>> blessings.
>> The inherent "blessing" of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.
>> -Winston Churchill
>>
>> The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the
>> taxidermist leaves the skin.
>> -Mark Twain
>>
>> The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to
>> fill the world with fools.
>> -Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)
>>
>> There is no distinctly Native American criminal class....save Congress.
>> -Mark Twain
>>
>> What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.
>> -Edward Langley, Artist (1928 - 1995)
>>
>> A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong
>> enough to take everything you have.
>> -Thomas Jefferson (1771)

I assume that finding the cure for political mentality is as difficult as finding the cure to cancer. I feel like a worm in a fire ant hill.