The HPV Vaccine (for your daughter)
So what's up with all of those commercials pressuring you to inoculate your daughter to prevent cervical cancer, or else? According to an article in The New York Times, the proof may be more in the marketing than in the medicine. Turns out, Merck, the pharmaceutical giant and maker of Gardasil, did some pretty hardcore lobbying in Washington to fast-track their designer drug to your doctor's office. While the vaccine can be effective in sexually active women in their 20s, research indicates that regular Pap smears can be just as effective at preventing cervical cancer. Sure, Pap smears don't prevent HPV (because it's a sexually transmitted disease, duh), but more than half of women with cervical cancer did not get a Pap smear in the prior five years to being diagnosed, according to Shobha S. Krishnan, M.D., author of The HPV Vaccine Controversy. Also, with recent reports trickling with Gardasil, including fainting and seizures, maybe it's a good idea to hold off on vaccinating your 11-year-old daughter until its long-term effects are better known.