When lawmakers at any level start messing around with anything associated with vaccines -- consider the avian flu epidemic that never came -- they always get it wrong. Such is the case of 11 Michigan state senators who introduced legislation that requires sixth-grade girls to receive the needless and expensive three-stage regimen to guard against the human papillomavirus (HPV), the most common cause of cervical cancer, earlier this week.

If passed, the bill -- the first of its kind in America -- would affect some 72,000 young girls the first year alone, says State Sen. Beverly Hammerstrom, who introduced the bill, with Medicaid and other state agencies picking up a third of the tab. The great news: Michigan laws allow families to opt out of this vaccine program for medical, philosophical or religious reasons, a good thing, considering Hammerstrom expects the fate of her bill to be decided by year's end.

Also, news interviews with some Michigan parents who disagree about the need for the HPV vaccine just don't like being told by legislators what they are required by law to do medically.

Wouldn't it be great to get a shot or, down the line, eat a reengineered plant that contains a vaccine that would rid us of cancer? Cancer prevention is not as simple as taking a vaccination. Maintaining a high level of immune integrity is the real solution.

By the way, the HPV vaccine is being produced by Merck, the very same drugmaker that brought you the lethal painkiller Vioxx.

Kaiser Network.org September 14, 2006

MSNBC September 12, 2006

Detroit Free Press September 13, 2006