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Ryan Jaslow /

CBS News/ September 16, 2011, 3:18 PM

Michele Bachmann's HPV vaccine remarks continue to draw criticism

Michele Bachmann

Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., speaks during a rally in Costa Mesa, Calif., Friday, Sept. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

/ AP

(CBS) Michele Bachmann is getting some pointed criticism from scientists for suggesting that the HPV vaccine poses serious health risks.

Pictures: 10 deadly myths about childhood vaccines

"It can have very dangerous side effects," she said of the vaccine on the Today Show on the morning after Monday night's Republican debate. "This is the very real concern, and people have to draw their own conclusions."

The Republican hopeful said a mother approached her following the debate and told her that her daughter became mentally retarded after receiving the HPV vaccine. But the American Academy of Pediatrics blasted Bachmann, saying the notion that the vaccine can cause retardation has "absolutely no scientific validity."

Bachmann tried doing some damage control, saying, "I didn't make any statements that would indicate that I'm a doctor, I'm a scientist or that I'm making any conclusions about the drug one way or another," CBS News reported. But when asked if she'd apologize for her comments linking the vaccine to mental retardation, Bachmann said: "Oh, I'm not going to answer that."

Apology or no, the controversy doesn't seem likely to die down anytime soon.

Dr. Arthur Caplan, director of the University of Pennsylvania Bioethics Center, offered Bachmann $10,000 if she could produce solid evidence of a case in which a "vaccine victim" developed a mental disability following an HPV shot, the Associated Press reported. If he wins the wager, he said, she should donate the money to a pro-vaccine group. If she wins, he said, he'd donate the money to a charity of her choice.

Bachmann's camp did not respond to the request, the AP said.

Another bioethics professor, Dr. Stephen Miles of the University of Minnesota, offered his own wager, saying  he'd give $1,000 if the medical records from the woman in Bachmann's story could be released and reviewed by a doctor, the Star Tribune reported.

"These types of messages in this climate have the capacity to do enormous public health harm," Miles told the Star Trib. "The woman, assuming she exists, put this claim into the public domain and it's an extremely serious claim and it deserves to be analyzed."

Some experts fear no matter what medical experts say, Bachmann's remarks will have serious consequences.

"There are people out there who, because of this kind of misinformation, aren't going to get their daughter immunized," Dr. Kenneth Alexander, a pediatric infectious disease expert at the University of Chicago Medical Center, told Reuters. "As a result, there will be more people who die from cervical cancer."

© 2011 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
18 Comments Add a Comment
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kldudley45 says:
The republicans seem to be having a lot of trouble with science this election. This is just another example. What does the CDC say? What does the ADA say? Are the potential benefits of gardasil out weighed by the reports of the side effects? Are they having more side effects reported than they origonally anticipated? As a politician do you intend to look into this before you decide to take a stand? I don't want someone in the white house that does not do reasearch before taking a stance on an issue that has to do with scientific fact.
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illcountryboy says:
"But when asked if she'd apologize for her comments linking the vaccine to mental retardation, Bachmann said: "Oh, I'm not going to answer that."
And don't try and make me you mean sopirited representatives of the main-stream media - why should I have to stand by what I said or acknowledge responsibility for my words.
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walt9800 says:
It doesn't take but a few moments of inspection of the Sane Vax web site to realize their motive is the discrediting of the HPV vaccine, thus reducing its use by young women in order to maintain the threat of cervical cancer, which in their minds ensures chastity. None of the information provided by Sane Vax is scientifically valid, and most of it is outright deceptive. That Michele Bachman chooses to parrot this deception shows her to be morally bankrupt and intellectually void. And I say this as a republican. Rick Perry - you're heart was in the right place, and you are on the side of life.
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JannySt says:
The IMB (Irish Medicine Board) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) are aware of the recent communication from Sane Vax and following on from this, the EMA requested the marketing authorisation holder conduct an immediate assessment of the risk of contamination.
The IMB, through its participation in EU Scientific Committees is contributing to the on going EU assessment of this issue and will continue to do so at further EU meetings scheduled over the coming week. Any updates on the outcome of these discussions and any recommendations will be highlighted, as appropriate. At present, the balance of risks and benefits for the vaccine remains positive.
The Gardasil vaccine has been licensed for use in the EU since 2006. The IMB together with the EMA continue to monitor the benefit-risk profile of Gardasil.
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walt9800 says:
You anti-vaccine flat earthers are really comical. Did you know that? Just thought I'd let you know.
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Mindanoiha says:
Gardasil contains polysorbate 80/Tween 80. This renders the blood-brain barrier more porous ("opens it up"). It is used in drug targeting when the aim is for chemo and psychiatric substances to pass through the barrier and to gain contact with brain tissue.

In vaccines this is undesirable, yet when the matter is mentioned there is deadly silence from vaccine promoters.

Neurotoxic aluminium and other substances reach the brain tissue resulting in increased risk of brain damage.
The relevant term is brain damage - not mental retardation.

Many girls exhibit symptoms of brain damage after Gardasil, but unfortunately autopsies which include thorough investigation of brain tissue are few and far between.

Rick Perry has connections with Gradalis Inc. As suggested in the press release: Move the letters around and it becomes Gardasil.

Considering the thousands of girls who suffer ill health after Gardasil but are not believed, we take the liberty of joining in the letter game to reveal the truth about Gardasil:

A girl who gets G A R D A S I L gets all mixed up and becomes:
A - S A D - G I R L !
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omnibus66 says:
The only way Bachmann can prove that she wasn't lying is to produce the alleged "mom". Not gonna happen.
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rdmathis2 says:
According to VAERS, the US Government's Database for Adverse Events related to Vaccine, Gardasil it is not a safe vaccine.

Gardasil was licensed June 8, 2006. Using numbers reflecting all reports in the US VAERS DATABASE from June of 2006 (Gardasil released on the market) until December 31, 2010.

Excluding Vaccination in Combination with Other Vaccines and in comparison to the % of adverse effects from Gardasil to the 73 other vaccines reported to VAERS during the sametime period.

THE TOP OFFENDER IS THE HPV VACCINE. #1 over the other 73 recorded vaccines. The HPV4 or Gardasil HPV Vaccine falls in the #1 category at 16% of the total database. The flu vaccine comes in a close second with 13% of the total database.

What is wrong with that picture!

The side effects listed on Mercks Gardasil packaging have incresed since it has been placed on the market. They have added additional side effects since it was originally published. Don't trust the published side affects.

There are definately problems with the HPV 4 or Gardasil vaccine as can be easily seen in the Government's VAERS stats and in the investigation information that was released last week.... http://sanevax.org/sane-vax-to-fda-recombinant-hpv-dna-found-in-multiple-samples-of-gardasil/

Go to www.sanevax.org for more HPV Vaccination statistics from the US Governments VAERS Database.

Here is a link to a presentation made by two members of the SANE Vax team at the British Society for Ecological Medicine - Look on the 2nd or third page. That is side effects that have been recorded by this non profit for Gardasil. http://sanevax.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/SV-BSEM-Proceedings-Global-Concerns-about-HPV-vaccines-06.26.1121.pdf

Here are the latest VAERS STATS right out of the Governments database.

Description Total
Disabled 763
Deaths 103
Did Not Recover 4,777
Abnormal Pap Smear 430
Cervical Dysplasia 157
Cervical Cancer 41
Life Threatening 444
Emergency Room 9,115
Hospitalized 2,307
Extended Hospital Stay 201
Serious 3,111
Adverse Events 23,388

CBS News, you owe it to your audience to cover the other side of this story. Email info@sanevax.org if you are interested. The SANEVAX team will be glad to help.

As the mother of a child that was disabled by Gardasil, thank you for the opportunity to post here.
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greco99-2009 replies:
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This is an important post with useful information.

Nearly all vaccines can have serious side effects including high fever which can lead to diminished mental capacity.

The flood of inaccurate pro-vaccine news articles is shameful. Rather than inspiring confidence, these articles raise further doubts because of the glaring inaccuracies and outright lies.
greco99-2009 replies:
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On the ABC website they will even delete comments with direct quotes from the CDC website noting specific and verified vaccine fatalities. And, the vaccine articles there are full of glaring errors. Perhaps someone from Merck is working overtime in the censorship department at ABC. No wonder people don't trust the vaccine industry...
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OnTheRoad01 says:
The only true mental retard in this articl is Michele Bachmann!
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rdmathis2 says:
Michelle Bachman is correct about the Gardasil Vaccine. SANEVax: Heart Broken Moms Offended By AAP Statements on Merck Gardasil

http://www.ageofautism.com/2011/09/sanevax-heart-broken-moms-offended-by-aap-statements-on-merck-gardasil.html

Go to www.sanevax.org for many stories of injury and death related to Gardasil. The FDA, CDC, and AAP need to wake up and do their jobs to protect the American children.
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VSCM2011 replies:
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With nearly 100 deaths reported because of this vaccine, parents need to have the choice. Not Big Pharma or the Gov't.
And Gardasil HAS NOT BEEN proven that it will prevent Cervical Cancer. It is just a theory that will need another decade or more before the anti-bodies are strong enough.
PAP smears are still the best way to screen for this type of cancer.
bpatient replies:
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VSCM2011 wrote: "With nearly 100 deaths reported because of this vaccine . . . "

That's a complete misrepresentation of the facts.

CDC reports indicate that as of June 22, 2011 there have been 32 confirmed deaths following distribution of more than 35 million doses of Gardasil. There was no unusual pattern or clustering to the deaths."

The passive Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) data simply cannot be used to prove a causal association between the vaccine and the adverse event. The only association between the adverse event and vaccination is temporal, meaning that the adverse event occurred some time after vaccination. The VAERS program specifically "seeks reports of any clinically significant medical event that occurs after vaccination, even if the reporter cannot be certain that the event was caused by the vaccine . . . You should report adverse events even if you are unsure whether a vaccine caused them . . . The fact that an adverse event occurred following immunization is not conclusive evidence that the event was caused by a vaccine."

Thus there is no "link" between Gardasil deaths, there are only rare case reports which might suggest that additional investigation is necessary to determine whether or not a there is a causal association. So far there is no indication whatsoever that that is true.
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