Perry’s Order Over HPV Vaccine Continues To Stir A Storm
By Vince Leibowitz on Feb 8, 2007 in 80th Legislature
Inoculating, yes. Innocuous, no.
Governor Perry’s Executive Order concerning the HPV vaccine continues to generate a firestorm of controversy. Twenty-six of the state’s 31 senators have now signed a letter asking Perry to rescind the executive order. Even State Senator Leticia Van de Putte has changed her mind on the order, though she remains committed to the cause:
“I appreciate Governor Perry’s bold move, and of course agree with this worthwhile cause,” she said. “However, based on the concerns expressed by a number of my colleagues regarding the appropriations process, and the fact that the Legislature is actually in session, I feel we should have the opportunity to bring this matter to a full, open debate.”
Former gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell is even backing Perry’s order, and asking Democrats to support the governor.
Of all of the media releases and comments about the order that legislators have distributed, that of State Rep. Jim Jackson (R-Carrollton), is probably the most well-rounded in terms of framing conservative opposition to the issue. It ranges from discussion about how Merck was pimping the vaccine at a National Conference of State Legislators meeting to questions that should be asked by legislative committees:
Almost two years ago, while attending a National Council of State Legislators Conference for emerging legislative health leaders, I along with several legislators were taken to dinner by Merck. We were shown the television ads that have been appearing in the last few months promoting Gardasil, the vaccine for HPV. After dinner the legislators from various states were asked a series of questions. The meeting was obviously meant to promote states mandating universal use of the vaccine and picking up the cost. I told them then that I wouldn’t commit to their obvious agenda.
This year, even though the Legislature is in session and bills have already been filed to meet Merck’s goals of universal use with heavy tax support, Merck convinced the Governor to issue an Executive Order and bypass the legislative process. This in unfortunate.
It is in the committee hearings where needed questions would have been asked to enable legislators to make an informed decision. Such questions might include:
·   Is the $360.00 quoted a reasonable price?
·   How much will such a mandate cost in public funds?
·   Will private insurance pay for this vaccine? If so, how will it affect insurance rates?
·   The Chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Disease has been quoted as saying he thought it was “premature to recommend making the vaccine mandatory.â€Â The FDA Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System has already received 82 reports of serious adverse events following HPV vaccination. The product has been on the market less than a year. Is it proven to be safe enough to mandate?
·   How large is a threat of cervical cancer in relation to other women’s healthcare needs? Has the incidence been increasing or decreasing?
·   How does the general public feel about such a mandate? When applied to children, should this be a State driven decision or a parent driven decision?
Most interesting was the release’s last sentence, though:
“The Governor should just admit he made a serious mistake.”
I am very upset about what Governor Perry is doing. I have watched him sell out Lubbock to nuclear waste disposal companies, community mental health centers to private providers, and now little girls to Merck. It is frustrating to me.
It is clear that this move is for the personal well-being of Michael Toomey, not our children. It seems that when there is a legislative hurdle to leap, Perry bulldozes the hurdle with an executive order for Michael Toomey’s interests.
This is a clear case where a bill has been filed and Perry preempted the legislative process. Interestingly, Dept. of State Health Services is the agency responsible for rulemaking on this issue. Who is in charge of rulemaking there? Randy Fritz-the former Toomey lobbyist who was concurrently the legislative Director for “Texans for Lawsuit Reform” and a Philip Morris lobbyist. He was actually named in the Texas Tobacco suit as knowlegable about Tobacco tactics to smear health advocacy groups. He is the Chief Operating Officer at Health and supervises their general counsel as well as rulemaking.
He is the guy that signed the rule changes allowing expanded nuclear dumping in West Texas. This guy was a highly placed Maximus operative who came to the Health Dept. during HHSC negotiations with Maximus at a 60,000 pay cut.
TRMPAC was a broad scheme to create money opportunities for wealth political donors who were connected with certain lobbyists. HB 2292 was part of that scheme. This bill stripped governing bodies from health and human service agencies and put rulemaking all in the hands of the Governor and Al Hawkins. They then use the rules to pay off supporters like the Texas Association of Health Plans, nuclear waste disposal companies, private health providers, drug companies… This would not happen if the DSHS Council was still a governing body instead of advisory.