Contact: Kathleen Domingo, Catholics for the Common Good, 213-291-3580
MEDIA ADVISORY, Sept. 16, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- In 2007, California parents said "no" to mandatory Gardasil vaccinations for children forcing the legislature to withdraw a bill sponsored by the pharmaceutical giant, Merck. Now, they are trying to make an "end run" with a bill permitting providers to by-pass parents and give children as young as 12 years old the power to consent to vaccinations of Gardasil without their parents' knowledge.
There are serious questions about AB 499 regarding new wasteful taxpayer expenditures, parental rights and responsibilities, and the relationship between the bill's sponsor and the pharmaceutical giant Merck.
Spokespersons available
William B. May*: Topics include:
- Parallels with the issue hounding Texas Governor Rick Perry.
- Attacks on parents' rights to make consequential healthcare decisions for children.
- Absence of protections against coercion of children by adults with vested interests.
- Wasteful expenditures of public funds because 73% of teenagers who take the first injection of Gardasil do not become immunized (1.usa.gov/oZZcOS). Fortune called this "the equivalent of a design flaw." (cnnmon.ie/bI38ZO)
- Creation of the broadest 12-17 year old market possible for Merck by including inoculation of boys, although Gardasil is only on the CDC immunization schedule for girls (1.usa.gov/dnUYnR).
5.a The bill could mean up to $30 million in sales for Merck at federal expense.
5.b Why must Merck pursue legal mandates or laws to go around parents to sell their vaccine?
- The bill's sponsor, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, received 60% ($477,000) of their total corporate grants from Merck in 2010 (bit.ly/p7qyHR). They received another $97,000 in the first quarter of 2011.
Medical Experts also available on request
- A pediatrician, board certified in infectious diseases
- An obstetrician/gynecologist
"We don't need laws to permit interest groups to go directly to children because their parents have said 'no'", said Catholics for the Common Good Chairman, William B. May. "Governor Brown should apply the same parental rights principles to AB 499 that he used when he recently vetoed the mandatory sky helmet bill and send AB 499 back to the legislature with his veto."
Governor Brown's veto message for SB 105 read, "I am concerned about the continuing and seeming inexorable transfer of authority from parents to the state." He concluded, "I believe parents have the ability and responsibility to make good choices for their children."
* William B. May is founder and chairman of Catholics for the Common Good a non-partisan organization working for a more just society. It is guided by the social teaching of the Catholic Church. He has appeared on Good Morning America, The News Hour, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, BBC, FNC, CNN, NPR, EWTN Radio, To the Point with Warren Olney (NPR), KQED Forum with Michael Krasney, The Ronn Owens Program (KGO), Catholic Answers Live (EWTN), Kresta in the Afternoon (EWTN), and many other radio programs.
