http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/21/business/21merck.html?ex=1172725200&en=d8f146af1509b3f2&ei=5070&emc=eta1Reacting to a furor from some parents, advocacy groups and public health experts, Merck said yesterday that it would stop lobbying state legislatures to require the use of its new cervical cancer vaccine.
The company said it made the decision after realizing that its lobbying campaign had fueled objections across the country that could undermine adoption of the vaccine.
At least 20 states are considering making its use mandatory for schoolgirls, and the governor of Texas, Rick Perry, has already done so by executive order. Part of the states’ rush to embrace the vaccine has been instigated by Merck efforts that began before federal regulators approved the product last year.
The vaccine is aimed at a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer. Critics of the vaccine on moral and other grounds have used Merck’s perceived influence as a weapon in fighting the drug’s use. And some public health officials who favor the vaccine say the movement to make it mandatory has come too fast.
Merck acknowledged that opinion yesterday, saying it would stop lobbying specifically for state mandates, many of which would require girls to be vaccinated before they entered sixth grade.
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