Well said Johan. The phenomenon of is one I’m all too familiar with myself and can be explained thus. “Why can’t everyone just think like me, dammit??”

Re: Paralysis and HPV vaccination

The first article you linked to from the Times we cannot properly evaluate. We do not know the girl’s medical history. The article does not mention what tests were performed or what the results were. We don’t know if she traveled anywhere before she received the vaccine. No clues are given whether any other individuals who receive jabs from that lot of vaccine also experienced ADRs. In short, there are a very large number of factors that we just don’t know. It cannot, therefore, be used to support a claim that Cerverix causes paralysis. Nor can it be used to exonerate the vaccine. All we can say is that, scientifically speaking, it’s worthless.

Likewise, the Daily Mail article is woefully devoid of pertinent details to make any kind of reasonable judgment. From what is there, the rates of the serious ADRs listed appear to be at a rate of less than 1 per 100,000. The only one that wasn’t was the blurred vision (just shy of 3 per 100,000). We are not told how many of those individuals recovered from the ADRs vs. how many were permanent. However, given the little that we can glean from the article, the benefits of the vaccine still appear to outweigh the risks (considering both the risk of ADRs from the vaccine, as well as risks from cervical cancer if not vaccinated).

I’ll take a look at the cholesterol bits as I get time to read the studies and comment on them. Thanks for providing the links!

Re: FDA Funding

Believe me, I would be very happy to have industry user fees done away with. As the article you linked to says, it creates the impression of conflicts of interest. I, personally, would like to see an actual study that looks at whether there really is a difference in FDA behavior specifically linked to the user fees. I’m not aware of any such study, though.

The fees themselves, unfortunately, are necessary because Federal funding simply doesn’t cut it. FDA has never had adequate funding to accomplish what they are tasked with, since the first beginnings of the agency. A sad state, really, given the importance of what they do, and to have confidence in them eroded (rightly or wrongly) due to the added funding derived from fees paid by industry, is awful.

Paralysis happens 30min after jab, but everyone denies it could be the vaccine.

Daily Mail article
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1160516/Paralysis-epilepsy-blurred-vision-1-300-girls-reaction-cervical-cancer-vaccine.html

Sorry they are only newspaper articles, but I hope you understand. Dr’s seem to think this is an OK risk, but in reality they have no way of telling if the vaccine will actually save lives.

Epidemiology 2001 Mar;12:168-72

Further references “British Medical Journal published in September of 1996, where a French study looked at over 6,000 men. The study revealed that men with low cholesterol were three times more likely to commit suicide. A similar study at Payne Whitney Clinic in New York showed a similar result: when dividing men into four groups based on cholesterol levels, suicide risk doubled in the group with the lowest levels.”