MSD responds to Judicial Watch statements over Gardasil

Merck, Sharp and Dohme (MSD) has responded to statements made by the public interest group Judicial Watch which reports adverse events in some patients receiving Gardasil.

MSD declared that the labelling for Gardasil reflects the extensive data available from clinical trials.

The pharmaceutical company goes on to stress that data from clinical trials had been discussed by leading medical and policy experts including an advisory committee at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) data has also been announced publicly in a number of publications, according to MSD.

Responding to specific points made in the Judicial Watch statements, MSD insisted that two to three percent of pregnancies result in congenital anomaly of some kind in the general population.

The company added that what is shown is its database is consistent in what is expected in the general population regardless of whether a patient has been vaccinated.

MSD also went on to state that deaths reported in VAERS showed no causal relationship to the vaccine.

The company stated its commitment to continue to monitor post-marketing experience with Gardasil.

Last month, MSD has announced that it is to donate at least three million doses of its cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil to support vaccination programmes in the world’s lowest income countries.