To shoot or not to shoot? With those side effects just kill me.

So ladies, and gentlemen as well as I suppose this applies just as much to you, a visit to my gynecologist yesterday for an annual exam has left me perplexed. Pissed is also another appropriate term. Now, I have much unease (aka fear) and distrust in regard to the established medical profession. Namely, because I don’t like needles, but that’s my issue. I greatly respect how far the medical field has come since doctors had to steal bodies out of graveyards in order to study anatomy. However, inoculation is another issue all together. From dealing in livestock, I’m well aware of how drug companies (the same companies that make human medicine make animal medicine, just FYI) push their product using a fear-ad campaign. “Give you chickens this or g-worms will run rampant!” Let’s ignore for the moment that g-worms aren’t a real disease, or even a worm for that matter. It’s the same, I found yesterday, with the medical industry. Anyone else heard of Gardasil? For those who haven’t, it’s a vaccine, developed by Merck, and is supposed to guard against the four most dangerous types of HVP, that’s Human Papillomavirus. There are over a hundred forms of HPV and only four are dangerous, the rest go away on their own. My new doctor highly stressed that I get this vaccine. First of all, it’s expensive; second, it doesn’t offer unlimited protection against cervical cancer (which, by the way, is seriously down in this country as a killer of women); and third, I hate shots, needles, anything of the kind, and this vaccine is a series of three shots. Also, if you’ve had HPV, the vaccine won’t help you at all. So when I got home, I did some digging. I wanted a devil’s advocate opinion on this drug, since it’s been pushed at me for years and I’m fucking tired of it. If I’m going to get a needle stuck in me, it’s going to involve treatment for tetanus or lethal injection. Anything short of that, kiss my ass.

Anyway, here are some relevant websites, and I really recommend you give them some thought, both women and men. Because despite what the “One Less” ads promote, HPV is a male issue too, since men can unknowingly spread HPV to their partners. So read this, do your own sluthing, and if you have the time and inclination, let me know what you think. Oh, and my two favorite lines of these sites? Gardasil is a big public health experiment and one of the ingredients in the vaccine is used to exterminate cockroaches. Oh and check out the side effects on Slutopia. Everything except bald tires and low resale value on your home.

Evil Slutopia: 10 Things You Might Not Know About Gardasil
Evil Slutopia: 10 More Things You Might Not Know About Gardasil
FDA: HPV Factsheet
Gardasil.com