Last year the FDA approved Gardasil, a vaccine that wards off two strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) that cause 70 percent of all cervical cancers, and the CDC recommended it for all young women ages 11 to 26. The vaccine promises to save hundreds of thousands of lives, but its hefty price tag—$360 for the three necessary doses, as well as the cost of a doctor’s visit—may make it inaccessible to many of those who need it most.
I just hope that over the next 20 years or so market forces make the vaccine more affordable so that if I have a daughter she can cheaply benefit from one of the drug's supposed side-effects: becoming a tremendous whore.
Update: Thanks to Jim from Portland for taking all the fun out of this post in comments. He's right, though, about vaccines: Seemingly because they, you know, work very very well, they just aren't a cash cow for drug companies. Often they consist of one shot one time with no need for follow-up. There's just not a lot of money in them. So they're expensive and not terribly susceptible to market whims. However, wart-and-cancer avoidance seems to me to be the perfect glue with which to stick young conservatives and liberals together in the fight for universal health care. Or at least in a call to the government to launch a federal program to administer Gardasil cheaply.
HPV is NOT just a female concern. HPV causes genital warts in both sexes. Teen (or post-teen) boys need the vaccine as much as girls. The reason for the push on females is that HPV can be hard to detect visually (and may not show as visible lessions for years or decades), but is still active in the body) - and some forms of HPV do cause cancer. And yes, it is VERY contagious with skin contact of any kind in genital region.
As for hope of market pressure reducing the price: not on your life. There is almost zero competitive pressure on vaccines. The price might, (might!) decline as the manufacturer gets improved processes in place, but there won't be a competitive US product, or generic.
Posted by: JimPortlandOR | June 14, 2007 at 04:55 PM
Geez Jim, get all serious whydontcha! Here I am trying to take a cheapshot at the religious right and you gotta come in and regulate. Why, Jim? WHY?!
:)
Posted by: Brian | June 14, 2007 at 04:58 PM
Oh brian, we all know you liberals would have tremendous whore daughters even if there were no vaccine.
Posted by: Zach | June 14, 2007 at 05:10 PM
Well, Brian, when you say: I just hope that over the next 20 years or so market forces make the vaccine more affordable , without more evidence of snark than the 'tremendous whore' comment, I thought you were being serious about competition for vaccines (and the focus on the female thing, too).
I didn't mention it, but warts on your penis or testicles are not fun stuff. A minor abrasion is all it takes to transmit it from, for example, the hottie girl you picked up last Sat. night for some fun (see: Knocked Up).
A few hundred $$$ is not much to protect from warts on your johnson that have to be removed by freezing, lazer, or electrocautery. And then removed again and again and again, since the virus may be in your bloodstream forever.
Read: According to a 1997 American Journal of Medicine article, nearly three in four Americans between the ages of 15 and 49 have been infected with genital HPV at some point in their life. Incidence is even higher now...
Bottom line: clearer snark, please. More respect for vaccines. Less respect for the drug industry's 'competition'.
Posted by: JimPortlandOR | June 14, 2007 at 06:11 PM
If you knew how hottie she was you might think the venereal price was worth it.
Posted by: Brian | June 14, 2007 at 07:33 PM