Despite all the rhetoric spewed from a well-financed group of lobbyists and legislators to build a desperate push for states to mandate the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Gardasil, Merck called a halt to its ridiculous Help pay for Vioxx campaign yesterday.

I suspect the news came as a surprise to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the first lawmaker in the nation to mandate the HPV vaccine, and more fuel to his legislature's growing campaign to overturn the edict. And some are still wondering if Perry's ridiculous decision had less to do with HPV or more with listening to the opinions of his former chief of staff, now a Merck lobbyist.

And, even the American Academy of Pediatrics that had been supportive of Gardasil was pleased about the end of the campaign, citing concerns about requiring another vaccine for a health problem that doesn't have a big impact on health in the first place.

It's probably good timing for Merck too, considering reports from the National Vaccine Information Center are surfacing about fainting and dizziness reported by dozens of patients as side effects of Gardasil. One more reminder, HPV is virtually 100 percent avoidable without a useless, expensive vaccine.