chronic fatigue syndrome

Court dismisses Gardasil harms claims against Merck

This article about a court dismissing Gardasil harms claims against Merck was written by Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, Professor of Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law (San Francisco, CA), who is a frequent contributor to this and many other blogs, providing in-depth, and intellectually stimulating, articles about vaccines, medical issues, social policy, and the law.

Professor Reiss writes extensively in law journals about the social and legal policies of vaccination. Additionally, Reiss is also a member of the Parent Advisory Board of Voices for Vaccines, a parent-led organization that supports and advocates for on-time vaccination and the reduction of vaccine-preventable disease. She is also a member of the Vaccines Working Group on Ethics and Policy.

On March 15, 2022, a federal judge in Connecticut dismissed a tort claim brought against Merck by a young woman, Korrine Herlth, who alleged that the Gardasil vaccine caused her harm, including Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (“POTS”) and chronic fatigue syndrome (“CFS”).

The claim was dismissed on the grounds that federal law preempted most of the torts claims – they could not be brought because the Food, Drugs and Cosmetics Act said that federal law ruled these issues, not state torts law – and the others were dismissed because the plaintiffs’ claims were too general and did not provide sufficient grounds. The claims were dismissed without prejudice, so if the plaintiff – through her lawyers – can correct the problems the court identified, she can refile some of them.

The case never reached the causation problems in the claim – causation problems that derive from the fact that multiple large studies found no link between HPV vaccines and the alleged harms. Nor did it actually get to examine the validity of the specific claims, but many of them draw directly from anti-vaccines claims that are highly problematic.

It is likely fair to say that in this case – and the other similar claims the law firm bringing the case, Baum, Hedlund, Aristel & Goldman is bringing alleging harms from Gardasil – the law firm is serving the anti-vaccine movement more than the individual plaintiffs, even if the law firm itself is not, as a whole, anti-vaccine.

Large study finds no link between HPV vaccine and autonomic dysfunction

A recent large, comprehensive study provides evidence that there are no links between the HPV vaccine and autonomic dysfunction. Researchers keep looking for serious adverse events after individuals receive the HPV vaccine, and they keep finding nothing.

I know that I keep presenting new articles that establish the safety and effectiveness of the HPV vaccines – I bet it seems repetitive. But we need to keep making certain that everyone knows that the HPV vaccine is extremely safe, and it prevents cancer.

Well, let’s take a quick look at this new study, so we can have it in our figurative back pocket when we hear the newest anti-vaccine claim that the HPV vaccine and autonomic dysfunction are linked. It isn’t.

Gardasil vaccine is safe – supported by overwhelming scientific evidence

I have written nearly 200 articles on the HPV vaccine, and the simple conclusions based on the published evidence is that the Gardasil vaccine is safe and extremely effective. This is essentially settled science.

Of course, the anti-vaccine zealots continue to push the narrative that somehow the HPV vaccine causes all kinds of harms, almost all of these claims without merit. In other words, they lack any verifiable and reliable evidence.

On the other hand, researchers continue to examine whether the Gardasil vaccine is safe, and the simple interpretation of that evidence is that the HPV vaccine is incredibly safe, and there is no evidence of major adverse events linked to the vaccine.

Because there is such a large volume of published evidence supporting the fact that the Gardasil vaccine is safe, I thought I would look at the four best, highest-quality published articles that support this claim. Maybe you all can use it when some anti-vaxxer tries to tell you that the HPV vaccine makes some specious claims about its safety.Read More »Gardasil vaccine is safe – supported by overwhelming scientific evidence

Judy Mikovits – another false authority on COVID-19 and vaccines

If you have been following the detritus of the internet regarding COVID-19, you have probably seen a video called “Plandemic” from Judy Mikovits, another pseudoscientist screaming about conspiracies and nonsense during this pandemic. She has a long history of scams and false information over a few decades, not unlike all of the other false authorities we’ve seen over the years.

In case you don’t know about a “false authority,” formally the “argument from false authority” logical fallacy, which favors claims from individuals based solely on their credentials rather than the scientific consensus. Credentials don’t matter – I maybe someone who has a Ph.D. in cell biology and biochemistry from a top university, but if I claim that you must believe that Sasquatch because of my background, that doesn’t work. Plus, Sasquatch does not exist.

The anti-vaccine zealots have a long history of relying upon false authorities – Tetyana Obukhanych, Christopher Exley, and Christopher Shaw. None of the individuals have any reputation in vaccines, yet they are deified by the anti-vaxxers. I’m guessing that Judy Mikovits will be joining that crowd soon. Read More »Judy Mikovits – another false authority on COVID-19 and vaccines

HPV vaccine side effects – unrelated to chronic fatigue syndrome

The list of HPV vaccine side effects is long and, on the surface, very troubling. But study after study, some of them with millions of patients, have found that the vaccine is extremely safe, and the side effects attributed to the vaccine occur at the same rate between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.

Now, there is a large new study in Norway that examined another hypothetical side effect that has been claimed to be associated with the HPV vaccine. And what did the study find? No link.

We’re going to examine the new study on potential HPV vaccine side effects, which will tell us more about the safety of the vaccine.Read More »HPV vaccine side effects – unrelated to chronic fatigue syndrome

HPV vaccine effectiveness – even better than we thought

The greatest thing about science is that it relies upon evidence, while building the body of evidence over time. We know that evolution is a fact, not because of one piece of data, but because of thousands of individual data points over nearly 150 years. The body of evidence supporting HPV vaccine effectiveness, though not at the level of evolution research, is, nevertheless, robust and broad.

A new study suggests that the HPV vaccine effectiveness is much higher than originally believed, as shown by the reduction in the incidence of cervical neoplasia (including pre-cancers) since the introduction of the HPV vaccine.This is pretty exciting news.

Let’s take a look at the recently published paper that supports improved HPV vaccine effectiveness.

Updated – Japan and HPV vaccine – debunking myths

by Michael Simpson
2020-09-27
18 Comments
Andrew Wakefield, Cancer, HPV vaccine, Infectious disease, Vaccines

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in June 2013. It has been revised and updated to include recent developments with the HPV cancer preventing vaccine and Japan’s Health Ministry.

The comments have been closed for this article. Please comment at the revised article.

I enjoy refuting myths about cancer prevention and cures, for only one reason–because there are real cancer cures and preventions that people overlook. Frankly speaking, there really is only a handful of ways to prevent cancer backed by real scientific evidence–and one of the most important ones is receiving the HPV vaccine.

Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the USA. There are more than 40 HPV sub-types that can infect the genital areas of males and females. Additionally, some HPV types can also infect the mouth and throat. HPV is generally transmitted from personal contact during vaginal, anal or oral sex.

HPV is linked to cancers in men and women, and because there are so many subtypes, research has established which HPV types are related to which cancers. Because HPV is sexually transmitted, most of the infections occur near the mouth, throat, anus and genital areas–and most HPV related cancers begin there.

HPV is believed to cause nearly 5% of all new cancers across the world, making it almost as dangerous with regards to cancer as tobacco. According to the CDC, roughly 79 million Americans are infected with HPV–approximately 14 million Americans contract HPV every year. Most individuals don’t even know they have the infection until the onset of cancer. About 27,000 HPV-related cancers are diagnosed in the USA every year.

Chronic Lyme disease myth – reviewing the evidence

by Michael Simpson
2019-08-24
5 Comments
Evidence based medicine, Infectious disease, Lyme disease vaccine, Pseudoscience

Editor’s note – this article has been substantially updated and republished here. Please read and comment there. Thanks.

Lyme disease is an infectious disease caused by at least three species of bacteria belonging to the genus Borrelia. Of the three species, Borrelia burgdorferi is the main cause of Lyme disease in North America, whereas Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii are more prevalent in Europe. The disease is named after the towns of Lyme and Old Lyme, Connecticut, where a number of cases were initially identified in 1975.

Borrelia is transmitted to humans when bitten by infected ticks belonging to a few species of the genus Ixodes, called “hard bodied” ticks. Although deer ticks, Ixodes scapularis, Ixodes pacificus, or Ixodes ricinus, are commonly considered to be the vectors for Borrelia infection, some of the other species in the Ixodes genus can transmit the disease. Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the United States.

The initial symptoms of Lyme disease include fever, headache, fatigue, depression, and a circular skin rash called erythema migrans (EM). If the Borrelia infection is not treated quickly, later symptoms may involve the joints, heart, and central nervous system. There is generally only one known treatment for the infection–antibiotics including doxycycline, amoxicillin, and cefuroxime. The symptoms usually disappear after antibiotic treatment.

From this rather straightforward disease, a whole cottage industry has arisen around the chronic Lyme disease myth – it claims that the Lyme disease is never really killed and it persists for months or years.

Chronic Lyme disease–myth or science?

by Michael Simpson
2019-08-24
245 Comments
Evidence based medicine, Infectious disease, Lyme disease vaccine, Pseudoscience

This article has been substantially updated and re-published. Please view that article and comment there.

The initial symptoms of Lyme disease include fever, headache, fatigue, depression, and a circular skin rash called erythema migrans (EM). If the Borrelia infection is not treated quickly, later symptoms may involve the joints, heart, and central nervous system. In general, the infection and its symptoms can be treated, if started early, by antibiotics. Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the United States.