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Politics Blocks Gardasil From HPV Throat Cancer
- Forbes , Thursday, April 5, 2012 9:50 AM
Having a possible vaccine against a new, deadly disease of increasing frequency doesn't mean you can use it.
Merck's Gardasil, which may be an effective vaccination against HPV throat cancer, is only approved in boys to prevent anal and penile cancers, which is extremely rare. And tests might well prove it can prevent the new throat cancer strain would take at least 20 years, until the boys sampled actually became sexually active and then contracted the disease.
This article details how U.S. politics and Merck's bad public image are keeping Gardacil from saving hundreds of thousands of lives around the world--and endangering the cures of the future.
