Cervical Cancer

Sandra Levy wants to do everything she can to safeguard the health of her 11-year-old daughter -- and that, of course, includes cancer prevention. She has had her child inoculated with one shot of Gardasil, the human papilloma virus vaccine that may prevent cervical cancer. But now, she says, she has serious reservations about going ahead with the next two injections of the course. "It's very confusing, and we really don't know if it's 100% safe," says Levy, of Long Beach.

About a quarter of the nation's teenage girls received the controversial cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil last year in its first full year of distribution, federal authorities said Thursday. "For a new vaccine, 25% is really very good," Lance Rodewald, director of the division of immunization services at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a telephone news conference releasing the data.

A controversial cervical cancer vaccine that has been only recommended for U.S. residents has become a requirement for all new female immigrants ages 11 to 26, sparking an outcry over the order's safety and cost. "It's outrageous," said Sara Sadhwani, project director for the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California. "It seems absolutely premature to mandate this for immigrant women." The requirement went into effect Aug. 1 and will apply to more than 130,000 immigrants a year.

Merck & Co. is helping bankroll efforts to pass state laws requiring girls as young as 11 or 12 to receive the drug maker's new vaccine against the sexually transmitted cervical-cancer virus. Some conservatives and parents' rights groups say such a requirement would encourage premarital sex and interfere with the way they raise their children, and they say Merck's push for such laws is underhanded. But the company said its lobbying efforts had been aboveboard.

Texas on Friday became the first state to require school-age girls to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus that has been shown to cause cervical cancer. Gov. Rick Perry signed an executive order mandating that most girls, starting in September 2008, receive the vaccination against the human papillomavirus before entering sixth grade. More than a dozen states, including California, have been considering such a move.

Few doctors, parents or medical ethicists would dispute the astounding potential of the new human papilloma virus vaccine -- it protects against infections that cause 70% of all cervical cancer and most genital warts. "We use 'breakthrough' way too often, but this is a breakthrough," says Dr. Bradley Monk, an associate professor of gynecologic oncology at UC Irvine School of Medicine. "We are unbelievably enthusiastic to have a vaccine that prevents you from getting cancer."

Merck & Co., bowing to pressure from parents and medical groups, is immediately suspending its lobbying campaign to persuade state legislatures to mandate that adolescent girls get the company's new vaccine against cervical cancer as a requirement for school attendance. The drug maker, which announced the change Tuesday, had been criticized for quietly funding the campaign, via a third party, to require that 11- and 12-year-old girls get the three-dose vaccine in order to attend school.

The bill's backers had high hopes. They proposed that Utah spend $1 million for a public education campaign about the risks of cervical cancer and a new vaccine that can prevent it, as well as fund vaccinations for poor, uninsured patients. But conservatives in the Legislature objected, partly because cervical cancer is spread sexually and they feared that making vaccines available would encourage children to be promiscuous. The program was withdrawn from consideration in early February.

Demand for the Gardasil vaccine against cervical cancer is outstripping supply as the state offers the shots for free, but there are no plans to accelerate distribution, a public health official said. "We expected all along there would be an initial demand, but there is a finite amount of resources," said Greg Moore, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Texas lawmakers rejected Gov. Rick Perry's anti-cancer vaccine order Wednesday, sending him a bill that blocks state officials from requiring the shots for at least four years. Perry has said he is disappointed but has not indicated whether he will veto the bill. He has 10 days to sign or veto it, or the proposal will become law without his signature. Lawmakers can override a veto with a two-thirds vote. The legislation passed by well over that margin in both chambers. Republican Rep.