A new report issued this week by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the government agency that works to protect public health, reveals that STDs in the U.S. are taking a “severe human and economic burden” on the entire country. The figures are shocking; in 2008, there were 20 million new incidents of infection in the United States and a prevalence—new and ongoing infections combined—of 110 million, according to the CDC report.

The numbers have increased steadily in the last few years, researchers found. In 1996 there were 15 million new incidents of STDs in the U.S. and in 2000 there were 18.9 million. The figures started to skyrocket in 2008, according to CDC figures. The eight most common STDs are chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, herpes, human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B, HIV, and trichomoniasis.

Because some STDs, especially HIV and AIDS, require lifelong treatment and care, they are extremely costly. In addition, HPV is particularly expensive due to the high cost of treating HPV-related cancers. This is not to say that curable STDs are cheap to treat. The nation spends a whopping $742 million to do that, the CDC reveals, and chlamydia is the most commonly treated.   

The administration took the opportunity to promote a controversial HPV vaccine (Gardasil) in the report, though it didn’t specifically name the medication. Everyone is at risk for the potential outcomes of HPV, the CDC warns in its new study, adding that “HPV vaccines are routinely recommended for 11 or 12 year old boys and girls” to protect against cancer. The report continues: “CDC recommends that all teen girls and women through age 26 get vaccinated, as well as all teen boys and men through age 21 (and through age 26 for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men). HPV vaccines are most effective if they are provided before an individual ever has sex.”  

If that’s not a plug for Gardasil, what is? Judicial Watch has exposed droves of public records illustrating the dangers of the government-backed vaccine which is manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Merck. Gardasil has been linked to thousands of adverse reactions and debilitating side effects as well as death in dozens of cases. Side effects reported by the government’s own Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) include paralysis, convulsions and blindness yet the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fast-tracked its approval and the CDC keeps pushing it.

The scandal of this large-scale public health experiment is outlined in a special report published by Judicial Watch in 2008. It documents Gardasil’s scandalous government approval process, side effects, safety concerns and marketing practices.

Not surprisingly, this very crucial detail is buried deep in the mainstream media coverage of the study. For example, this national news service report seems to celebrate the results, plastering the headline “Merck’s HPV Vaccine Gardasil Shown Safe in Kaiser Study.” The story dismisses fainting and infection among “short-term side effects.”

The reality is that Gardasil, promoted as a miracle shot that can prevent certain strains of cervical cancer caused by Human Papillomavirus (HPV), has been linked to thousands of adverse reactions and debilitating side effects. They include paralysis, convulsions, blindness and dozens of deaths yet the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fast-tracked its approval and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends it for girls starting at age 9.

Since 2007 Judicial Watch has investigated the Gardasil scandal and exposed droves of government records documenting thousands of adverse reactions associated with the vaccine. In 2008 JW also published a special report detailing Gardasil’s government approval process, side effects, safety concerns and marketing practices. Undoubtedly, it illustrates a large-scale public health experiment.

With the force of the federal government behind it, Gardasil hasn’t received any negative reviews in the U.S. However, earlier this year two reputable Canadian medical researches published a study concluding that the unknown dangers of a life-threatening adverse reaction to the vaccine far outweigh the known risks of contracting the disease. The same researchers responded to Merck’s new study this week, warning that Gardasil may trigger fatal autoimmune or neurological events in some cases.

This is outrageous because Gardasil has been shoved down the throats of unsuspecting victims by government at every level. Some 20 states have passed laws requiring funding for Gardasil or education programs promoting it.  Among states that have enacted Gardasil-related measures are California, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Virginia, Maine and Utah. In all 50 states, tax dollars help pay for the costly shots ($360) because the CDC makes them available through the federal Vaccines for Children program.

The Justice Department says the corrupt FDA chemist (Cheng Yi Liang), who worked in the Office of New Drug Quality Assessment, traded on multiple occasions by using non-public information obtained through the agency’s password-protected internal tracking system for new drug applications. Liang made nearly $4 million off the deals and recently reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. This week he was sentenced to five years in prison.

Perhaps the FDA will find a way to keep him on its payroll.  A few years ago a congressional report exposed that government scientists convicted of felonies are allowed to conduct essential drug and biologics research because the FDA doesn’t bother removing them, even though federal law demands it. This means Liang may very well get his job back after he’s done serving time.   

His case is simply the most recent of many controversies to hit the federal agency responsible for protecting public health and safety. In the last few years the FDA has been embroiled in a number of transgressions, mostly involving its failure to enforce federal laws to please wealthy pharmaceuticals that pay hundreds of millions of dollars in “fees.”

In fact, the appalling arrangement has even been documented in various federal probes. One scathing congressional report outlines in detail how the FDA allows companies that annually pay it more than $400 million in fees to compromise public safety.

Judicial Watch has exposed one deadly example—Gardasil— that was fast-tracked by the FDA to protect against cervical cancer. JW uncovered droves of government records listing thousands of adverse reactions associated with the vaccine, which is manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Merck. They include paralysis, convulsions, blindness and dozens of deaths. Based on the records JW published a special report detailing Gardasil’s approval process, side effects, safety concerns and marketing practices.

JW has also exposed FDA secrecy. A few years ago JW reported how the agency avoided publicly disclosing information about an approval process by rebranding the product for veterinary use. It involved the first genetically engineered animal for human consumption—genetically modified fish—and the FDA wanted to keep the gory details from Americans who would eventually it.

In fact, the unknown dangers of a life-threatening adverse reaction to the vaccine—known as Gardasil—far outweigh the known risks of contracting the disease, according to the medical study conducted by two reputable Canadian researchers. Since 2007 JW has investigated the Gardasil scandal and exposed droves of government records documenting thousands of adverse reactions associated with the vaccine, including paralysis, convulsions, blindness and dozens of deaths.

Manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Merck, Gardasil is promoted as a miracle shot that can prevent certain strains of cervical cancer caused by Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Instead it’s been linked to thousands of debilitating side effects, according to the government’s own daunting statistics, exposed in the course of JW’s ongoing probe. Based on the records JW published a special report in 2008 detailing Gardasil’s approval process, side effects, safety concerns and marketing practices. Undoubtedly, it illustrates a large-scale public health experiment.

Now a medical study, conducted by the University of British Columbia’s Neural Dynamics Research Group, collaborates the alarming side-effects of a vaccine that’s been shoved down the throats of unsuspecting victims by government at every level. Some 20 states have passed laws requiring funding for Gardasil or education programs promoting it.  Among states that have enacted Gardasil-related measures are California, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Virginia, Maine and Utah. In all 50 states, tax dollars help pay for the costly shots ($360) because the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) makes them available through the federal Vaccines for Children program.

Before the Canadian study, first discovered by the Washington Examiner, there had been no solid medical research conducted on Gardasil. The newspaper cited it in a piece on Virginia rescinding its Gardasil mandate for pre-adolescent girls entering the sixth grade. The study lists the following Gardasil side effects: “Death, convulsions, paraesthesia, paralysis, Guillain–Barre syndrome, transverse myelitis, facial palsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, anaphylaxis, autoimmune disorders, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolisms and cervical cancers.”

The medical researchers also point this out in their report: “In the Western world, cervical cancer is a rare disease with mortality rates that are several times lower than the rate of reported serious adverse reactions (including deaths) from HPV vaccination.” In fact, the overwhelming majority (88%) of cervical cancer deaths occur in third world countries. 

Even for ultra-liberal California this may seem astounding, that children can receive any sort of non-emergency medical treatment without the approval of a guardian. As if this weren’t atrocious enough, the costly vaccine (Gardasil)—linked to dozens of deaths and thousands of debilitating side effects— will be largely financed with taxpayer dollars.

Worse yet is that a disturbing number of girls and young women who received Gardasil have died or suffered  serious adverse effects such as paralysis, seizures and blindness since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fast tracked its approval under pressure from the pharmaceutical giant (Merck) that makes it.  Just this week Judicial Watch released the latest of many daunting federal reports exposing the deaths of 26 girls who received the shot in the last year alone.

Before that Judicial Watch uncovered droves of FDA records, obtained by suing the agency, that document the damage associated with Gardasil which is promoted as a miracle shot that can prevent certain strains of cervical cancer caused by Human Papillomavirus (HPV). In 2008 JW also published a special report detailing Gardasil’s approval process, side effects, safety concerns and marketing practices. Undoubtedly, it illustrates a large-scale public health experiment.

Yet, incredibly, at least 20 states have passed laws requiring funding for Gardasil or education programs promoting the vaccine.  Among states that have enacted Gardasil-related measures are Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, Rhode Island and Utah. In all 50 states, tax dollars help pay for the shots because the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) makes them available through the federal Vaccines for Children program.

But California has broken away from the pack in a big way by making Gardasil, which is administered to girls as young as 9, available without permission from a parent. Signed by Governor Jerry Brown this month, the new measure (Minors: Medical Care: Consent Bill) will take effect in January. That means anyone 12 years of age or older can consent to medical care related to the prevention of a sexually transmitted disease, according to the actual language of the law.

This includes the strains of cervical cancer, communicated only by sexual contact, that Gardasil’s manufacturer claims to prevent. The new law was clearly crafted for this one drug and a chunk of it is dedicated to touting it because “HPV vaccination prior to the onset of sexual activity is critical since most infections occur within a short time frame post initiation.”

Of interesting note is that the key California legislators who passed the Gardasil law received campaign money from Merck, according to a Sacramento-based investigative journalism group that published a database with the names and numbers. All of the lawmakers are Democrats who each got between $300 and $3,500 from the huge pharmaceutical conglomerate.