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Unwanted Side Effects: Gardasil and RFID

from the October 30, 2007 eNews issue
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During the past century, technological breakthroughs have given us such wonders as iced coffee, toaster ovens, and the Internet. Inventors work overtime to make our 21st century lives more convenient and long lasting. Yet, while technology has its benefits, it also often brings less desirable side effects, raising the constant question, "Is technology actually improving our lives?"

Gardasil

A vaccine meant to protect young women against cervical cancer has been linked to as many as 11 deaths as well as "adverse reactions" in over 3,400 patients since it was approved by the FDA in 2006. According to the FDA and CDC, the Gardasil vaccination only causes minor soreness around the injection area, and the adverse symptoms that women have experienced are merely coincidental, and not caused by the vaccine.

However, Judicial Watch argues that the link is stronger than the FDA admits. For instance, a Judicial Watch press release says, "Of the 77 women who received the vaccine while pregnant, 33 experienced side effects ranging from spontaneous abortion to fetal abnormities. Other serious side effects continue to be reported including, paralysis, Bells Palsy, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and seizures."

Gardasil is a vaccine that has been marketed as a way to prevent cervical cancer. It is specifically a vaccine against certain types of the human papillomavirus (HPV), including the types that can cause cervical cancer. According to the U.S. National Cancer Institute, over 3600 women in America will die of cervical cancer in 2007.

Even though Gardasil is relatively new to the market, the widespread infection of HPV and connected cervical cancer deaths have led lawmakers in more than 20 states to consider making Gardasil vaccinations mandatory for 12-year-old girls in the public schools. While most of the bills introduced to state legislatures allow parents to opt their children out, there is concern that Gardasil should be more thoroughly tested before being injected into middle school children en masse - especially since HPV is most commonly transmitted only through sexual contact.

RFID

Radio Frequency ID tags have been have been linked to cancer in laboratory mice, raising the question of whether they might also cause tumors in other animals and, ultimately, the humans who get "chipped."

RFID tags have been injected into cattle, dogs, and even children in recent years as a way to easily identify the chip-bearer. They've been marketed as a way to give hospital doctors quick information about Alzheimer's patients. Only about 2000 chips have been injected into human beings so far, but millions have been injected into pets and farm animals.

Several studies have shown that malignant tumors called sarcomas have been found to encase the chips injected into lab mice. A 1997 study in Germany showed that 1 percent of mice had the tumors while a study done in Connecticut in 1998 showed a 10 percent cancer incidence. A more recent study done in France in 2006 found that 4.1 percent of 1,260 microchipped mice had tumors.

These studies do not have a final say on the matter; none used non-microchipped mice as a control group. There is also the fact that mice bodies might react to microchip transponders in a different way than human bodies. Still, the findings should encourage researchers to look deeper into the matter. Dr. Cheryl London, a veterinarian oncologist at Ohio State University, noted: "It's much easier to cause cancer in mice than it is in people. So it may be that what you're seeing in mice represents an exaggerated phenomenon of what may occur in people."

Human knowledge certainly does increase every year that goes by, but technology will never "save" us. It seems that everything man does carries with it some reminder that, no matter how hard we try, we are still in a fallen world. And while we are called to keep going and continue in well doing (Galatians 6:9), we can praise God that we have a perfect world to look forward to, one where every tear will be wiped away.

And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. -Revelation 22:3-5