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Narr: Assemblywoman Amy Paulin last month introduced a bill to mandate the vaccine for all school-age girls by 2008. Paulin says that Gardasil's potential to save lives is what led her introduce a bill on the vaccine.
AX: It is revolutionary. That is what attracted me initially to the vaccine itself.
Narr: By all accounts, this drug could slash cervical cancer in the future…but it's expensive...$360 dollars for every child vaccinated. Merck may earn up to 3 billion dollars by 2010 on Gardasil sales alone. They've been lobbying lawmakers to make the vaccine a requirement for all school-age girls.
Paulin herself received a $500 campaign donation from Merck. She says her campaign to get children inoculated has nothing to do with the pharmaceutical company's lobbying.
AX: Merck has never had anything to do with my advocacy for this vaccine.
Narr: Paulin has MORE ties with Merck. She is friends with a registered lobbyist for the company.
AX: I have a friendship with someone who worked at Merck who attended a fundraiser. Which has no relevance to this bill. They've never lobbied me.
Narr: Paulin says that she did not know that her friend was a registered lobbyist for Merck. Not only is he a registered lobbyist…according to documents obtained from the state, Paulin's friend is registered to lobby for -quote—immunizations, vaccines, and cervical cancer.
The Merck lobbyist declined an interview request and referred all questions to the company. When asked about the urgency to pass a school requirement, Paulin asserts that all recommended vaccines by the CDC are mandated in New York.
AX: All vaccines are mandated! In New York State, every vaccine that's recommended by CDC is mandated. Every single one. We've always done that in New York.
But the school requirement doesn't always come so quickly after the vaccine is approved. The Hepatitis B vaccine was approved by the FDA in 1986, but wasn't made a requirement for schoolkids until over a decade later. Also, other vaccines were approved by the FDA in the 90s…for chicken pox and meningitis, are not yet required.
Narr: Merck has ALSO been lobbying to make their drug a requirement for all girls. But they won't be lobbying anymore. Jennifer Allen, a spokesperson for the company, says that Merck decided to stop because of criticism over their aggressive lobbying.
AX: We do not want any misperception of Merck's role to distract from the ultimate goal of fighting cervical cancer. We made the decision to suspend our lobbying efforts for school requirements for Gardasil at this time.
Narr: Merck says, however, that they WILL continue to --quote--educate lawmakers and health officials on the benefits of Gardasil. Allen refused to say whether the company would cut back budgets for their lobbyists who, until recently, were pushing for the mandatory vaccinations.
Even without school requirements, Merck shipped 2 million doses of Gardasil to healthcare providers last year, earning the company almost 800 million dollars in its first six months on the market.
How long the vaccinations will protect against HPV remains in question…studies have shown that the vaccine will work for at least five years, but there hasn't been enough time to know if girls will need a booster shot in their 20s or 30s, when most HPV infections occur. Irene Jay Liu, Columbia Radio News.