According to the JAMA analysis by Sheila
On Guard Against the
Gardasil Juggernaut
by George Delgado, M.D.
No one likes the feeling that something has
been shoved down his or her throat. Merck,
the pharmaceutical giant is looking like a
bully in how it thrust Gardasil, the first
genital human papilloma virus (HPV)
vaccine, on the US market.
You might imagine genital HPV infection
being like an iceberg. The small tip
represents those infections that lead to
cervical cancer. Below the water is the vast
majority of the infections, those that do not
transform into cervical cancer because they
are cleared by the body.
Gardasil has received some renewed
uncomfortable publicity in the August 19,
2009 issue of The Journal of the American
Medical Association, commonly known as
JAMA. Two articles and an editorial
explored the safety and the marketing of
Gardasil.
While safety is always a huge issue, I
believe that the bigger story with Gardasil
was the unprecedented publicity campaign
that won Merck an industry award for the
pharmaceutical brand of the year for
“building a market out of thin air” according
to the trade publication, Pharmaceutical
Executive
Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse • 663 S. Rancho Santa Fe Road Suite 222 San Marcos CA 92078
www.jennifer-roback-morse.com • email: drj@jennifer-roback-morse.com • 760/295-9278
©2007 No part of this document may be reproduced or disseminated in any way without the expressed written consent of the
Ruth Institute.
Rothman, PhD and David Rothman, PhD,
Merck took to heart the difficult introduction
of its hepatitis B vaccine about twenty years
ago. With Gardasil, Merck was armed and
formidable. It funded professional
organizations like the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the
American Society for Colposcopy and
Cervical Pathology (ASCCP), the society of
Gynecological Oncologists (SGO), and the
American College Health Association
(ACHA) so that they would produce
educational and awareness initiatives.
Rothman and Rothman especially
highlighted the roles that ASCCP, SGO and
ACHA played in the promotion of Gardasil.
Through educational presentations, mostly
directed at health professionals and public
health announcement programs these
professional organizations were essentially
minions in supporting what became the
Merck juggernaut that led to widespread
coverage and acceptance of the new vaccine.
The other problem the authors describe is
that Gardasil has been promoted as a
vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. In its
studies Merck only proved that it can
prevent some of the precancerous changes
that may lead to cervical cancer. Saying that
it prevents cervical cancer is a huge
assumption; especially since, at this point,
we do not know how long the vaccine
effects will last. We won’t know if it
prevents cervical cancer for at least another
twenty years because that’s how long it
takes the disease to develop.
At between $360 and $1000 for the total
cost of the three-shot series this is a huge
and extremely costly public health
experiment that we have undertaken under
the heavy-handed influence of Merck, the
advice of professional organizations who
have breached public confidence by their
blind acceptance of the Merck “educational”
programs and the poor judgment exercised
by public officials in recommending or
mandating universal vaccination.

Pap smears have cut cervical cancer by

about 70% in our country and are only
getting better. Abstinence before marriage
and fidelity during marriage are the only
fool-proof ways of preventing HPV
infection. Hopefully, in the battle against
cervical cancer, we will find a rational,
complementary and proven role for the
expensive Gardasil vaccine, perhaps in high
risk women.

Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse • 663 S. Rancho Santa Fe Road Suite 222 San Marcos CA 92078
www.jennifer-roback-morse.com • email: drj@jennifer-roback-morse.com • 760/295-9278
©2007 No part of this document may be reproduced or disseminated in any way without the expressed written consent of the
Ruth Institute.