Ok, so that may not be entirely accurate. Jenny Tetlock was probably not #41. She might've been #410 for all we know. Because not every patient reports adverse reactions (or even thought it might be linked to the vaccine they took earlier). Or, if you got sick from a vaccine, your doctor might tell you it's quite normal or it's all in your head, and never report it. It is estimated that only 1% of cases are reported. Cases outside the US even more under-reported. So Jenny was probably not death #41. That would be a gross underestimation.Anyways, Gardasil was never on my radar until Jenny. I had heard of one death before this, but I thought that it was just an isolated case. So I ran a search on the VAERS database (the CDC and FDA's Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System) and fell off my chair when I saw the numbers:
HPV4 (Human Papilloma Virus Types 6, 11, 16, 18 Recombinant Vaccine)
Death: 40
Life threatening: 197
Permanent disability: 341
Hospitalised: 1,142
Hospitalised, prolonged: 140
Emergency room: 6,100
Not serious: 11,646
Total adverse events: 19,466
Total patients: 13,142
Now, those are patients who reported. (Don't forget the other 99%.) Gardasil has been on the market for less than 3 years.
So, 13,142 patients reported 19,466 adverse events. Assuming that those who reported more than once did so because they got worse (after all, why would you report if you got better?), that gives us a difference of 6,324 patients who got progressively worse. 6,324 out of 13,142 patients is 48%. So a good half of all the patients who got sick initially became even sicker over time instead of getting better. (Although, this is not a perfect assumption because some people might have reported three or four times or more, thus the percentage of people who got worse is less than 48%.)
How many people must die or be permanently crippled before a pharmaceutical product is recalled? In the case of Vioxx, it was only after 27,785 people had suffered heart attacks or died of heart attacks. (Incidentally, the manufacturer of Vioxx is also Merck, manufacturer of Gardasil. The recall of Vioxx was a huge financial blow to Merck. How many more drugs do you think they are willing to recall?)
How many of the Gardasil-injured patients currently categorised under "hospitalised", "permanent disability" and "life threatening" are going to add a second adverse event - "death"? How many more parents are going to add their children to the now almost 20,000 adverse events?
Jenny's two years of suffering is over.
Is your child going to be next?
(If you or your child has suffered a vaccine injury, help is available.)
See also:
• Merck Gets Warning Letter Over Shoddy Manufacturing Practises
• Sri Lanka Halts Vaccination Drive After Girl's Death from Expired Vaccine