Why was he pushing so hard?

[Misanthropical]

The other thread reminded me of something that happened with my daughter. She had to get a physical so she can do cross country.

Anyway, her dad took her to the appt. and called me during the exam. He asked me if I wanted her to have the Gardasil shot. I said that I didn't because there is not enough research done on it yet and I don't want to find out it can cause nasty side effects years down the road.

My husband came home with our daughter and told me that the doctor was trying to force the issue and would not drop it. He even tried to schedule a time for her to come in later to get it.

I thought I was pretty clear when I said no and thought I had a good reason to say no at this time.

I still wonder why the doctor would not drop the subject. I did wonder if he got a bonus on how many shots he gave out. I'm sorry, but I will not allow my children to get medications that have not been studied in the long term. It might make me over protective, but it's better than finding out I said okay to something that will harm them later in life.

[blas]

Is this the same quack who won't listen to you?

I am very inclined to believe that the doctors just want more money. I flat out told my doctor that Guardasil is NOT covered by my insurance, I do NOT have $600 extra to spare, no thanks, let's see about when it is covered by insurance in a few years.

I get the whole rigomorale that I NEED to have it, that I'm already high risk and blah blah blah.......oh shut up you self righteous trite quack....you already make $90 every time I get a Depo shot (even though a NURSE gives it to me!) and you make hundreds of dollars every time you rub a Q tip on my cervix.

Edit: The reason I brought up PP in the other thread is because after arguing with me about "needing" those shots, the doctor was very, very reluctant to do so, but finally wrote down a number for me and said "This is the number for Planned Parenthood and this is the number for the county where you can see if you'll qualify to get it for less or free. Although since you have insurance, I highly doubt it." Yep. I doubt it too.

[draftermatt]

Not to mention the commercial flat out says that it does NOT guard against all types of HPV, not even all the ones that cause Cervical Cancer.

C'mon.

[Pedersen]

Actually, I think I can answer why he was pushing so hard without a need for him to get a bonus.

Gardasil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardasil) prevents infection by strains of the human papilloma virus. This virus is directly responsible for nearly all strains of cervical cancer. Per that same page, cervical cancer is the second leading cause of death world wide, mainly because symptoms are nearly non-existent until it's too late to save the patient.

Since many strains of HPV are transmitted sexually, it is highly recommended that women get vaccinated before becoming sexually active.

In other words: He was trying to protect your daughter from possibly dying a very unpleasant death much later down the road.

Long term effects are, of course, unknown, but the risks of getting the shot versus the risks of not are something only you can weigh. If it were me, I'd strongly consider getting it, but that's me.

Hope it helps a bit.

[blas]

Kinda along the lines of what Pederson said:

Because so many young girls are having sex younger and younger these days, even if your daughter isn't, most doctors will recommend Guardasil as early as age 12 or 13. I believe girls as young as 9 can receive it as well. It's a series of 3 shots all given at different times.

But I can totally understand why you are unsure of it. Not to mention that it's $600 if you're uninsured, and some (not all, but some) insurance policies won't cover it. Not sure why, but they won't....it may still be too new?

[Sliceanddice]

But I can totally understand why you are unsure of it. Not to mention that it's $600 if you're uninsured, and some (not all, but some) insurance policies won't cover it. Not sure why, but they won't....it may still be too new?

because its new, cost 600 dollars, and the feds dont require it. its a pure, hey they dont need it, lets spend the 100k plus it will take to treat her for cancer later.

[blas]

The feds? Aw damn not them again. I just got rid of that little camera they had installed in my shower.

[draggar]

I did wonder if he got a bonus on how many shots he gave out.

Yes and no. They do get paid ("reimbursed") from the insurance company for the shot so they over-charge for it (like just about everything else they charge insurance for). It costs him 5 minutes to give the shot but can bill the insurance a lot for it.

I once went in about allergies and snoring - the practioner (sp?) refused to look at me until I agreed to a tetanus (sp?) shot. (I haven't been back to her yet).

[Soulstealer]

Personally I think once they figure out the effects the shot should be given to the entire population. Men may not have a cervix but most have sex with someone that does that, and who knows maybe that virus does something to them that they haven't reported on yet.

[Misanthropical]

blas87 no it's not the same doctor as the I had. I am just unsure of the long term effects and if 10 years down the road they will find it has nasty long term effect.

I most certainly do not want my daughter to get cancer, but I also don't want her to have to deal with something that the manufactures did not know would happen.

She is not a genie pig, I want to know all the fact before I just willy nilly decide to get her the shot.

[Saydrah]

I'm on your side, Misanthropical.

My coworker got Gardasil and had a serious allergic reaction-- even though she got the first shot and was fine, the second one caused her throat to close up three mornings in a row. She has no known allergies and had never had a vaccine reaction before. Now she has to be monitored any time she gets any kind of booster, because Gardasil may have sensitized her system to one or more vaccine ingredients.

I won't be getting it. If studies of its long-term effects prove it's safe and effective, my niece will, but not me.

[DevilBoy]

I did wonder if he got a bonus on how many shots he gave out.

http://www.naturalnews.com/001298.html

http://arthritis.about.com/od/arthritismedications/a/drugsalesreps.htm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/aug/23/health.pharmaceuticals

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/24/ap/business/main4473338.shtml



Yeah... it does make you wonder.

[Misanthropical]

Thank you, DevilBoy. That is what I was afraid of.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

"I did wonder if he got a bonus on how many shots he gave out. "

Oh, doctors loooove them some drug company perks. Just sayin'.

My daughter will get that shot over my cooling, dog-gnawed corpse.

Girls are having awful reactions to the thing. It is new, not adequately tested, and showing signs of having some serious side effects that the drug companies are busily sweeping under the rug. Something they do as a matter of common business practice.

Girls PASS OUT from this thing. In droves. And yet, they explain it away by saying "teenagers pass out from pain sometimes."

Really? I was a teenager once I dont remember passing out from any shots. Or sprains, or broken fingers and toes, or deep bloody cuts, or scary accidents, or...well you get the idea. In fact, I don't know anyone who ever passed out from getting a shot. And yet, passing out is common in teenage girls now, just about the time this shot is getting pushed through by Merck, the drug company that made it. Interesting.

[smileyeagle1021]

Really? I was a teenager once I dont remember passing out from any shots.

umm, hi :wave: I've passed out from getting shots...but that's mainly a fear reaction because of my phobia of needles.

That said, I can understand people's hesitation at trying new medications... I've only once tried a "new" medication... and what made it new was that it was now time released so you only had to take one pill a day for a week instead of 4 pills a day for a week... when I asked what the potential side effects were, I was told, worst case scenario is that the time release doesn't work, you'll get the full daily dose at once, you'll still be well within the safety limit though, but you'll feel like crap... I looked at it as, hey, I already feel like crap, now I can feel like crap only having to remember one pill a day instead of 4 at very specific, and not very convenient, times.
That said, if you told me, hey, we're giving you an untested medication, we have NO idea what the side effects may be, just trust us that you need it... oh yeah, I'd be shaking hands, thanking for their time, and informing my insurance that I need to see a different doctor.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Kinda makes me glad I'm outside the recommended age rage (at least for the moment; I suppose they could expand it in the future) so I don't have to decide.

[Dips]

My daughter completed the series a few months ago. We discussed it with her doctor and with our daughter and all felt that the benefits outweighed the risks. Our insurance did cover it, so no issues there. And she didn't have any side effects from the injections.

Naturally this outcome isn't exciting enough to make the news, but it's true. :)

[MystyGlyttyr]

Girls PASS OUT from this thing. In droves. And yet, they explain it away by saying "teenagers pass out from pain sometimes."

I was once a teenage girl who took a brick in the head, didn't pass out. Kinda wished I had, but...

It's too bad you can't hook people up with shock collars, and if they try to push an issue further after hearing no, then ZZZZZZZZZZZZK.

[marty]

I'm not going to get it, and my insurance does cover it. In my opinion, the best thing a woman can do to prevent cervical cancer is to go get a yearly pap...no shots needed.

Sometimes people just don't get that no means no.

[blas]

I must agree with you marty. And on top of that, the commercials even say that it doesn't prevent all kinds of HPV that cause cervical cancer. And odds are, if you've already had some bad Paps or had to have chryosurgery or a Leep procedure done, the shot isn't going to do anything, because you've already gotten into the bad stuff.

[Jester]

Okay, color me ignorant, but what the hell is Guardasil?

She had to get a physical so she can do cross country.

More importantly, if she was there for a physical for SPORTS, why the hell is the doctor insisting she get a shot that (I think) guards against cervical cancer?

And Doctors, please.....if a medicine is new and your patient or their parents don't want it, do us all a favor and Shut The Fuck Up about it.

[MadMike]

Mis, I have to agree with you. When I first heard about it, it sounded like a good thing, but you're right -- it's still fairly new, and we don't know the possible side effects.

On a similar note, when my son was 2, and I took him in for a checkup, the doctor mentioned a new, experimental chicked pox vaccine. That was back before it was required -- I believe it is now -- and the doctor even pointed out that it was expermintal, and that it could end up giving him the disease rather than preventing it.

I told the doctor that I'd think about it and get back to him. In the meantime, my son actually got chicken pox, which made the whole thing a moot point anyway.

[Dips]

On a similar note, when my son was 2, and I took him in for a checkup, the doctor mentioned a new, experimental chicked pox vaccine.

My daughter got chicken pox when she was two (in 1992). There was no vaccine back then anyway. When it came out a few years later it was already moot.

My son, however, was on aspirin therapy from the age of one month and couldn't get the chicken pox vaccine until he was one (in 1998). If he had contracted chicken pox within that those 11 months it could have killed him (Reyes syndrome). Thankfully, he wasn't exposed to chicken pox until after he got the shot (and it happened several times; the first in the hospital when he was four) and he did not get the disease. Even though he died later from lymphangiomatosis, I'm very grateful that we had a way to protect him while we had him and we didn't lose him any sooner than we had to.

[Misty]

When my mother was a child, polio was the disease of the day. Everyone was terrified their child would catch it.

Then along came the polio vaccine. Although all of my grandmother's friends told her she was crazy, she brought her three kids to the doctor and had them vaccinated.

Nowadays that same vaccination is routine.

Things like this are always scary when they're new. Besides, is it really in your doctor's best interests to peddle a vaccine that ends up crippling his patients?

Of course, I am not trying to tell you what to do; you and you alone know what's best for your child. I'm just saying that new vaccines are the result of years of research and medical trails, so it's not like any moron with a chemistry set can whip up a vaccine and peddle it out of his wagon.

[Becks]

I wish they'd worked on this shot many years ago so that long range effects would be known....

And that I could've gotten the shot 11 or so years ago.