Risks vs. Benefits of HPV Vaccine: Dr. Tim Johnson Weighs In

What should parents do that have already had their daughters vacinated??

i got vaccinations yesterday and my mom decided not to get me the gardisil vaccine. This article surprised me on the news today because of the fact that i DIDNT get the vaccine.

Dr. Tim Johnsson,
Thx for giving your unreserved endorsement of this product on an earlier broadcast. Shame on you!

Did you ever notice that all the ads for this vaccine do not mention that HPV is a sexually transmitted disease??Wonder why??? $$$$$$

Dr. Tim you are singing a different tune today than you did when this vaccine came out. I remember you saying if you had a daughter you would get her vaccinated. Redness at the injection sight, dizziness and fainting were mentioned on our local news story. Seems as though any of those things could happen with any injection. These were also mentioned when this vaccine originated. These new findings should be broken down into age groups before uneccessary fear is spread. Too little information.

What about older teens, say ages 16 to 19. Is this vaccine safe for this segment of the population, whether they are sexually active or not?

Before we get hysterical, we should remember that the number of serious complications is very small compared to the total number of vaccinations given. I read all available material, talked to my daughter’s doctor, and discussed the matter with my husband and we decided to get the vaccination. My daughter has had two of the three shots, and she will received the third in two months. Anything I can do to lower her risk of cancer is my obligation. People were afraid of penicillin when it was invented, too. The chicken pox vaccine was controversial when it came out, too.

So happy my daughters pediatrician is conservative! She does not offer the vaccine. Thank you Dr. Bacola,for not jumping on the band wagon.

Dr. Tim: Please respond to the questions posted here!

What in the world ii going with these drug makers and what is wrong with the FDA. Why doesn’t anyone know what they’re doing. They tell us to give this shot to our children, then they say it’s no good for them. We tossed this idea of getting this for our daughter, finally, we thought she should get it. When she was a baby the chicken pox vaccine was new , I chose not to get it for her. She ended up in the hospital for 5 days with cellulitus from the chicken pox, I thought maybe the sme thing will happen without gardasil. She got it less than a week ago, NOW WHAT?????? I thought that good old Tim was going to answer these ????? We are not uneducated, we thought we were doing the right thing. I know that we are not alone, but why don’t you give us some kind of answers????

several years too late. People, including doctors, have been questioning this vaccine for years. Especially after Texas Gov.Perry by a quasi executive order tried to get every girl in Texas to take the vaccine, suspiciously Perry received money from Merck. As did Virginia governor Kaine who also was similiarly lobbyed apparently. I’m sure they weren’t the only politician. There also was a questionable group called “Women In Government”, funded by Merck but it is hard to find how much money they’ve given to politicians.
ps: I suspect the “swine” flu shot will be written about in a few years also– after millions are innoculated, and possibly harmed, and millions given to BigPharma and university/government researchers!

I suggest everyone should read the study in JAMA before jumping to conclusions. The number of people reporting adverse effects is very small and similar to other major vaccines were have proven very safe and effective. Thus far for the two serotypes concerned, the vaccine has proven reasonably effective at preventing HPV infection and spread. The idea proposed in the editorial to follow women for 20 to 40 is quite frankly idiotic. I will have my daughter vaccinated and will continue to have her monitored against cervical cancer through PAP smears/etc. later in life…I will not deny her the opportunity for better health because I depended on ABC and a TV doctor to tell me what to do.

Yes, it would be helpful to know how long after being vaccinated these girls could still be at risk for complications! I had four of my five daughters vaccinated two years ago. After receiving information from two ob-gyns and their pediatrician I thought it was a smart and safe thing to do! I read the information beforehand and discussed it with my husband also. It would be nice to know all of the facts! I’m so tired of hearing about these risks now after the fact! I would just like to have a little more information about these cases that have had negative affects.

Dr. Tim, I read the JAMA article that your current opinion is based on and I would have to say that everyone has to look at it individually. Personally, I’ve been there, first diagnosis at age 26, multiple surgeries later, screening 4x/yr for 5 yrs. At 35 I got the call I dreaded and the whole process started all over. Again, multiple procedures later and finally a hysterectomy. I have no children and HPV played a part in that. I wouldn’t wish what I’ve had to go through on any woman. I have a young niece, soon she will be old enough to have the vaccine. Obviously, I was one of the ones suseptible to the HPV viruses. Should my niece have to take the chance that she won’t be? Don’t let them fool you, just because you can detect cervical cancer early with PAP screenings doesn’t mean they can stop you from getting cervical cancer. Or that they can prevent you from having to face some of its tougher outcomes. Each parent has to make their own decisions, I will hope that your daughters don’t have to go through what I have.

I’m sure we’re not the only ones who wrote to Dr. Johnson when Gardasil was first promoted so positively. Merck already has a track record of putting profit before patient health (or even safety). Why do we allow big drug companies (now cutting backroom deals with Obama) to use our children as test tubes and profit sources, when their own ads admit they may be useless? The inmates are running the asylum — and making millions in the process.

Where ARE the ANSWERS everyone here is asking for?!

My 12 year old daughter heard the news about gardisil, she has already had her first dose, now she is terrified. She looks at me with distrust and thinks she’s gone to die.

Add Katie Tudor to the list of children who died after receiving gardasil. Do not lead your daughters to this cliff.

Two years ago my daughter did a school paper on this vacine. At that time there were 9 deaths associatied with it, along with a host of other problems that the public didn’t hear about from the drug company or the FDA.Every health care person she has come in contact with since this campain was started has promoted this vaccine.Not only did she refuse …this free vaccine…..but also encouraged anyone who would listen not to do it. She was ridiculde by an employe of our local health department, who claimed it was perfectly safe. My question is who picked up the tab for these free vaccines….were our daughters just guinea pigs? Were there kickbacks given?
What took them so long to come clean?
How many deaths are too many?
If my daughter who was 17 at the time noticed these problems why couldn’t our trained professionals?

In Dr. Tim’s defense, although he may have said “if I had a daughter I would get her vaccinated” when the vaccine was first introduced, he did report in August 2008:
“Well I think the company did a very effective job of glossing over these questions in its marketing campaign and convincing the public that this vaccine would indeed prevent cervical cancer. As Sharyn rightly points out, that simply has not been proven long term. So I think we have to be more cautious especially about mass vaccination programs, for example required for school entry. I’d also say, Charlie, that any parent, who after reading and thinking about it, wants to adopt a wait and see attitude, that parent should not be criticized.”

Medicine is not a perfect science!! So, listen up! ABC reported on a “editoral opinion”. Which, to me, is another example of the media’s ability to sensationalize an issue without basing the reports on facts. My daughter has had two doses of Gardasil with one adverse effect – syncope with the first injection. Before taking any medicine, read the information available, ask your clinician, go to the FDA’s Medwatch website – review the side effects and make an informed decision. WAKE UP AMERICA!

My daughter has gotten one of the shots will she be ok if we don’t get the other two

I am so mad at myself for not listening to my gut instinct on this dangerous vaccine. It wasn’t out long enough and there weren’t enough tests done over time yet, pediatricians, nurses, tv commercials, mtv, peer pressure and even our very own Dr. Tim so easily and matter of factly pressured us moms and teens to vaccinate our kids with this poison. Shame on you all!
Dr. Tim Johnson, please answer whether this vaccine poses any long term risks for those who have already received one or all three Gardasil vaccines????

I think is SCARY that the article mentions that there are NO LONG TERM STUDIES on this vaccine. How could the medical community ever endorse a vaccine that has no long term studies? I am also suspicious that there is more to this story, that maybe more girls are being harmed than being reported since the press is usually so pro-vaccine. Ever notice how many drug commercials are on TV? How much are the drug companies paying the networks and press? This also leads to the next obvious question…what about all the other vaccines? How safe are ALL of them?

My college age daugher had received the gardisal 18 months ago. She was talked into it by her doctor. She became very ill. The second shot we were in the hospital shortly after that. I asked so many times if it could possibly be the Gardisial and they insisted it was not.
Well one year later she has an irreg pap. I am really worried about her.
Could it be possible that she has contracted the virus and now has a form of it from the vaccine?
Thanks for your comments

I think that ABC’s presentation of this data on World News Tonight was unbalanced at best and has ratcheted up the fear factor for lay people.
While I agree the risk cervical cancer in the USA may have been overpromoted, HPV infections are a sexually transmitted group of diseases, and some HPV infections do have implications that may effect a woman’s future fertility. The HPV sub-types that this vaccine covers are some of the worst actors in regards to HPV.
All those experts recommending surveillance through PAP aren’t mentioning that once a women has moved into high risk, there are obligate biopsies and full thickness shavings of the cervix which have associated risks including cervical stenosis (closed cervix), cervical incompetence, and infertility.
HPV infections are rampant, and I believe any vaccine that cuts the risk of an STD and the possibility of cancer is worth consideration in this day and age.

I am 16 years old. I got my first shot on July 2,2008 two weeks later I passed out in my living room. I got my second shot on September 2,2008 and on Sep 8,2008 i was in MAJOR pain and was taken to my first doctors appointment of about 100. From passing out and pain it went to head aches, racing heart rates, my toes would turn purple beause my blood wouldn’t flow right and many many other things. 7 months later they sent me to the MN Mayo Clinic. Finally they told me I have Autonomic Dysfunction and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. I missed my 10th grade year of high school and I may never get totally better. DO NOT give your daughter this shot, I don’t want her to go through this.

Many queries are about what to do now that a daughter has been vaccinated. I highly recommend Detoxamin, as it is a heavy metal detoxifier, and all vaccines contain heavy metals such as aluminum. This product is a suppository that will allow the EDTA to bind with the heavy metals and remove them from the body.

The FDA thinks that the HPV vaccine that screens against cervical cancer is extremely important. Do you agree? Who am I supposed to believe. My doctor doesn’t offer the vaccine. I read this article: can anyone else recommend a reliable source? There is so much information out there!