Thursday, April 19, 2007
Who can you trust?
I'm almost a month behind on my podcasts so you're not going to be getting any scoops from me. I was listening to NPRs Talk of the Nation / Science Friday from March 16th, the discussion was about the HPV Vaccine Gardsil and the rush in some states to make vaccination of all middle and high school girls mandatory. Most notably the executive order by Gov. Rick Perry in Texas.
Don't get this wrong, Gardasil has some fantastic science behind it and it shows great promise at protecting against the human papillomavirus which seems to be the main cause of cervical cancer. It's just I think I've lost any and all hope that our elected representatives do ANYTHING solely for the good of the people. With Rick Perry as the Governor of Texas, who took over from George W. Bush when he was elected President, it's guilt by association and I can't help thinking the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Why would Rick Perry want to make this vaccination mandatory? Is he truly concerned about young women's health? Did he lose a loved one to cervical cancer?? or .... Is he in the pocket of Merck ??? Does he have a convincing staffer who is in the pocket of Merck? Is he buddies with Merck's CEO???
Right now Merck is the only manufacturer of an HPV vaccine. GSK is hot on the trail with it's own vaccine but if Merck can make Gardasil mandatory before GSK can come to market with their they effectively shut them out of the market. So you can see the pressure to get Gardasil mandatory in as many states as possible.
It troubles me to think like this. I hate not being able to trust the people that run our government or large corporations but they haven't given us much to go on. I can't help but always thinking "What's in it for them?" Hell, even the former pastor of my church has been indicted for embezzling close to a million dollars! I have nothing left to GIVE!!
I yearn for a true public servant.
#posted by Rob Roschewsk @ 7:05 PM