Caroline Cantera was 19 years old when she received her first of three Gardasil shots. She agreed to receive Gardasil after being convinced by Merck’s prolific marketing that the vaccine is very safe and prevents cervical cancer.
After receiving the shots, her life suddenly took a drastic turn as she was diagnosed with stage four cervical cancer.
Multiple biopsies, CT scans, MRIs, six rounds of chemotherapy, 30 radiation treatments, three brachytherapy treatments, and countless doctor visits, now she will never be able to have children of her own because her eggs are no longer viable due to the treatment.
A lawsuit has now been filed by Wisner Baum (formerly Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman) alleging Merck’s Gardasil HPV vaccine caused her to develop cervical cancer and other injuries. This is the first lawsuit to allege Gardasil can cause cervical cancer, the very cancer Merck asserts Gardasil prevents.
This from the Wisner Baum press release:
According to the complaint, Merck has never studied whether Gardasil prevents cervical cancer. Instead, Gardasil was tested to determine if it could prevent development of certain lesions, some of which are considered related to cancer, however, a majority of such lesions, even the most serious, regress on their own. Not every HPV infection places one at risk for cervical cancer. Only persistent HPV infections (not short-term or transient infections) in a limited number of cases may cause the development of precancerous lesions.
Public health officials have long recommended the Pap test as the most effective frontline public health response to preventing cervical cancer. Long before Gardasil was introduced to the market in 2006, cervical cancer rates had been plummeting by up to 80% with implementation of routine Pap testing. For those who are diagnosed with precancerous lesions or worse, cervical cancer is largely treatable if caught early.
Nonetheless, Merck sought fast-tracked FDA approval of Gardasil to fill a purported unmet need in preventing cervical cancer, with its expensive HPV vaccine. Once approved, Merck engaged in a relentless marketing campaign falsely proclaiming that Gardasil was a “cervical cancer vaccine” and that any young girl vaccinated with Gardasil would become “one less” woman with cervical cancer, the lawsuit claims.
Merck's underhand and unscrupulous marketing was definitely a factor in Caroline's decision-making here and it highlights how vaccine manufacturers play down risks to maximise profits.
With vaccine manufacturers under public scrutiny, especially in the times we find ourselves in, it's imperative that justice be served here.
Cantera’s attorneys, Bijan Esfandiari, Michael L. Baum, and Monique Alarcon filed the complaint (Case No. 3:23-cv-00161) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina as part of the Gardasil multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 3036).
Bob Fiddaman
Previously on this blog
"I don’t want this pain for other kids." ~ Victoria Trevisan, Gardasil Victim
Merck & Co Face Uphill Battle as Gardasil Lawsuits Consolidated
Parents of 13-year-old Boy File Wrongful Death Lawsuit against Vaccine Manufacturers, Merck
