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The NUTBURGER is on the run ..AGAIN |
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Posted by streetcarman1 on Tue Sep 13 16:16:30 2011 From the NYDAILYNEWS.COM:Michele Bachmann, GOP presidential hopeful suggests HPV vaccination may cause 'mental retardation' BY Aliyah Shahid DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Tuesday, September 13th 2011, 2:24 PM Michele Bachmann's latest attack on Texas Gov. Rick Perry may be hurting her more than him. Some in the medical community are speaking out against the Minnesota congresswoman, who blasted her fellow GOP presidential candidate this week for mandating that sixth grade girls in his state be vaccinated against HPV, a sexually transmitted disease. On NBC's "Today," Bachmann suggested the HPV vaccine might cause "mental retardation," a notion that has been largely dismissed. "I had a mother last night come up to me here in Tampa, Florida, after the debate," recalled Bachmann. "She told me that her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter. It can have very dangerous side effects. … This is the very real concern, and people have to draw their own conclusions." Margaret Nygren, Executive Director of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, told the Daily News that "there is no credible scientific evidence linking vaccines and autism or any intellectual and developmental disabilities," Evan Siegfried, a spokesman for the Global and Regional Asperger Syndrome Partnership, told Politico that Bachmann's claims were "dangerous and irresponsible" and that she should "cease trying to foment fear in order to advance her political agenda." And Pam Eisele, a spokeswoman for Merck, which makes the HPV vaccine Gardasil, told the Daily News that "we are confident in the safety profile of Gardasil. And while no vaccine or medicine is completely without risk, leading health organizations throughout the world have reviewed all of the safety information about Gardasil and continue to recommend its use." A spokesman for Bachmann did not return requests seeking comment. Perry signed a 2007 executive order requiring the vaccine to prevent human papillomavirus, an STD that can lead to cervical cancer. The decision - heavily criticized by conservatives - was eventually overturned by the state Legislature. At Monday night's debate in Tampa, Fla. Perry called his vaccine mandate a "mistake." "Indeed, if I had it to do over again, I would have done it differently," Perry said, although he noted that Texas parents could have elected to "opt out" of the vaccine. "I would have gone to the Legislature, worked with them. But what was driving me was, obviously, making a difference about young people's lives." David Schultz, a political analyst at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn., called Bachmann's move strategic, arguing that she is trying to hang on to conservatives voters who are fleeing her camp for Perry's. "In her base, there are many that firmly believe there's a connection between the two [HPV vaccination and mental disabilities], facts not withstanding," Schultz told the Daily News. "The fact is, a lot of supporters behind Bachmann do fit in that category and she's trying to recapture that base." |
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