HEALTH & SCIENCE

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UNGUARDED BILL ON GARDASIL PASSED IN DC

SUSAN LEVINE WASHINGTON POST - The D.C. Council moved yesterday toward
requiring preteen girls in the District to get inoculated against the
virus that causes cervical cancer, despite some of the same reservations
fueling a national debate. The council agreed 7 to 3 to support a
vaccination bill targeting the human papillomavirus(HPV). . . .
Critically to some supporters, it contains a provision allowing parents
or guardians to opt out of the mandate. . .

Attempts to mandate the HPV vaccine have proven so controversial across
the country that only one state has done so and two others, including
Virginia, have passed legislation awaiting governors' signatures.

Under the D.C. legislation, the series of shots would have to be
administered before a student enrolls in sixth grade. Girls could be
excused for any reason, a no-questions-asked flexibility that some
medical experts worry could decrease compliance with other vaccinations.

Yet the three council members who voted against the bill were not swayed
by its exemption clause. Carol Schwartz (R-At Large) withdrew her
backing and, like council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5), argued
that less-informed families would not know they had any right of
refusal. Schwartz also expressed concern over the extent of Gardasil's
testing, especially on younger age groups, before the federal government
approved its use last June. To scattered applause from listeners in the
council chambers, she urged that "an experimentation" not be allowed on
children.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/
AR2007040301778_pf.html


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MERCK HUSTLING GARDASIL GUYS, TOO

PHARMALOT - A recent three-day event at the University of Chicago campus
was held to promote awareness of HPV and the new vaccine everyone has
been talking about. And it was co-sponsored by Peer Health Educators, a
student program, and three companies: Sony, Avon and Merck.

One day, there were free makeovers. Another brought live music. And
there was a day devoted just to discussing men's health. "We felt that
it's very rare that there's a men's health event on campus. We wanted to
bring men's health into a seemingly women-specific issue," Colleen
Christensen, a second-year Peer Health Educator, tells the Chicago
Maroon, the school newspaper.

Not only were free coffee and t-shirts given away, so were little bags
of peanuts labeled with instructions on how to give 'self-testicular
exams.' Peanuts? Why not beer bottles? Anyway, here's the message young
men: One day, you won't have to worry that your short and curlies are
sporting warts or growing harmful cells if the Merck vaccine is approved
for fellas like you.

A similar event is being held at Ohio State University as part of a
pilot program, and Merck plans to sponsor the same thing at 20 other
universities this fall. By the time Merck convinces the FDA to approve
Gardasil For Guys, a whole generation of educated young men will be
primed for a shot. And they'll no longer have to associate peanuts with
tricky maneuvers.

http://pharmalot.com/2007/04/mercks_hpv_campaign_targets_co.php

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SOME INSURANCE COMPANIES NOT PAYING FOR GARDASIL

KAISER - Some health insurance companies are not covering Merck's human
papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil and others only cover part of the
vaccine's cost, the Detroit News reports. According to the News, many
physician offices are requiring patients to pay for Gardasil up front or
sign a waiver stating they will pay for the vaccine if their insurance
company does not. . . According to some Detroit-area physicians, the
full cost of the vaccine, which is given in three injections during a
six-month period, is about $450. Two of the largest insurance providers
in southeast Michigan, Health Alliance Plan and Blue Cross Blue Shield
of Michigan, provide coverage for the vaccine. BCBS only pays for the
HPV vaccine when the plan has immunization coverage, which is included
in most employer groups, an unnamed company spokesperson said. According
to the News, some health insurance plans stop immunization coverage at
age seven or 17. In addition, some insurance companies that cover
Gardasil have annual limits on preventive care that might be lower than
the cost of the vaccine. "The insurance issue is a nightmare," April
Sarvis, a Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based ob-gyn, said, adding that some
physicians are not offering Gardasil because insurance plans are not
paying the full cost

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=43913

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PHARMAS ON THE PROWL ELSEWHERE

RITA RUBIN, USA TODAY - Pfizer, faced with the potential loss of
billions of dollars as patients with high cholesterol switch from
Lipitor to generic Zocor, has been helping doctors wage a letter-writing
campaign to slow the tide. Lipitor's U.S. patent doesn't expire until
March 2010, but health plans are encouraging patients and doctors to
switch to the cheaper generic Zocor, or simvastatin.

Generic simvastatin became available in the USA last June. By December,
doctors had written 2.5 million prescriptions for it, Consumers Union
says. Lipitor still accounted for 43% of all statin prescriptions in the
latter half of 2006, the group found.

Pfizer sent doctors a CD containing two letters, one to health plans,
one to pharmacists. The letters argue that switching from Lipitor to a
generic statin "for cost reasons alone will undermine the clinical
judgment that went into the decision to prescribe Lipitor for this
patient."

"They're using doctors as a human shield to protect them from losing
business," said Sidney Wolfe, director of the Public Citizen Health
Research Group. "I would say it's unethical."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-04-02-pfizer-lipitor_N.htm?csp=34


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