Since the introduction of their Gardasil vaccine (marketed for the prevention of cervical cancer in women), pharmaceutical giant Merck has been wanting to expand the vaccine’s use to include males. Currently, the vaccine is approved for use in girls and women between the ages of 9 and 26. If Merck has its way Gardasil will be used in boys and men ages 9 to 26 as well. In documents posted online, the FDA said the vaccine prevented genital warts in males 90 percent of the time. Based on this the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is supporting the use of Gardasil in males. However, it is unlikely that the use of the vaccine will prevent a significant amount of penile and anal cancers, compared with cervical cancer. Cancer of the penis and anus are extremely rare, with less than 2,000 cases reported annually. Gardasil was approved for women in 2006 and had sales over $1 billion last year. [via CBS News]
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Tags: cervical cancer, FDA, gardasil, genital wart, hpv, human papilloma virus, Merck, vaccine
Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.
September 11th, 2009 at 7:12 am
Just another example of how big Pharma influences government and the public. Anything for profit without regard for public safety. Gardasil has shown its potential to harm females to the point of even death. I would suggest it will do the same for males.
I would never allow my son or daughter to receive this vaccination.
September 12th, 2009 at 5:09 am
Ditto, Ken. Big Pharma is just trying to make money. I’m sick of bib pharma trying to (and mostly succeeding) to control our health, often badly.