By executive order, all girls in Texas will be required to get the HPV vaccine then they are in the 6th grade. Personally I think that all girls should get this vaccine. Cervical cancer is bad. I do question his motives. There were already bills making it through both houses. So where is the emergency? Well, Merck might have been getting nervous because similar bills have failed in other states. I mean, consider the profits. When a series of the vaccine costs about $360, wouldn't you want it to be a requirement to give the vaccine to about 200,000 girls a year? In case you were wondering that would be $72 million dollars. It is also a little bit fishy that Perry's former chief of staff is now a lobbyist for Merck and his current chief of staff's mother is a state representative that gets funding from Women In Government (they received money from Merck).
So what I wonder now that we have a good thing for all the wrong reasons is who pays for the vaccine? The millions of uninsured Texans? Those lucky enough to have health insurance that probably won't cover the costs of the vaccine? The governor's executive order seems to be silent on that point.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I glanced at a story in the paper the other day about this and wondered why. Is Texas suddenly becoming a progressive state? Now I know.
If Texas were becoming progressive state, the government would have offered it the New Hampshire did (giving it free to anyone that wanted their girls to get it). Instead, we require you have it and pay for it too (we want to make damned sure that Merck gets its cut).
Post a Comment