Keep parent-physician role in vaccines

The American Cancer Society is the lead institution for promoting the Merck vaccine called Gardasil. Ms. Steinbruecker's ACS letter to the editor on Saturday, June 22, gave the positive spin about the need to protect 11- and 12-year-old boys and girls from acquiring HPV. This is what the Vaccine Reaction website states is the objective of the ACA.

The American Cancer Society has set an aggressive goal to achieve an 80 percent uptake rate among American children with two doses human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine by 2026.

What is not being stated is that the risk for acquiring cancer is confined to a very small population and there are risks from the Gardasil vaccine including death. It is up to the parent-physician discussion that should determine the need.

Mandating the administration of this vaccine through legislative means removes the patient-physician decision making process and creates a mandated climate for medical decisions when it is not needed. This is the trend that is being pushed by the vaccine manufacturers and they have already mandated in California through legislative means that all newborns must receive 26 vaccines in the first six months of their life. This is circumventing the patient-physician relationship for profit and not better health.

The aggressive campaign to convince both physicians and parents for blanket use of this vaccine is being promoted nationally through all media forms. It is unfortunate that the 20% of the target population that is not reached is where there is a higher risk of HPV cancer. They are those in poor neighborhoods where good nutrition is lacking.

Thomas A. Braun

Mount Prospect