Is HPV Vaccine Benefit Exaggerated?
Experts Debate Whether Gardasil Marketing Clouds Risk/Benefit Decision By Daniel J. DeNoon WebMD Health News Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD Aug. 18, 2009 Merck’s Gardasil won the Pharmaceutical Executive 2006 “brand of the year” award for “creating a market out of thin air.” But is the HPV vaccine oversold? The charge comes from a “special communication” and an editorial in the Aug. 19 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. The articles say professional medical associations worked with Merck to overstate the vaccine’s ability to prevent cervical cancer — even before studies proved Gardasil can prevent precancerous cervical lesions. Overselling the HPV vaccine’s benefits makes it impossible for parents and young women to judge whether the vaccine’s risks are worth taking, says editorialist Charlotte Haug, MD, PhD, editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association. “If it were a perfect vaccine you would never have to think about cervical cancer again.
