Texas AG Believes Gov. Perry's Executive Order Mandating HPV Vaccination Does Not Carry Weight Of Law, Lawmaker Says

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) last week in a meeting with two state lawmakers said Gov. Rick Perry's (R) Feb. 2 executive order that mandating that all girls entering the sixth grade beginning in September 2008 receive a human papillomavirus vaccine does not carry the weight of law, according to state Sen. Jane Nelson (R), the Austin American-Statesman reports. Nelson said she and Rep. Jim Keffer (R) met with Abbott last week after they had requested the attorney general to issue an informal opinion on Perry's order (MacLaggan, Austin American-Statesman, 3/13). "The attorney general met with both of us, and he answered questions we had regarding the executive order," Keffer and Nelson in a joint statement said, adding, "It appears that (the executive order) is, in effect, an advisory order and does not carry the weight of law. The Health and Human Services [c]ommissioner is not required to follow the order." Abbott's office said it would not discuss the meeting, and Perry's office said Abbott never met with it to express his opinion, the Houston Chronicle reports (Elliott, Houston Chronicle, 3/13). Perry has said the executive order will allow parents who do not want their daughters to receive an HPV vaccine "for reasons of conscience, including religious beliefs," to opt out of the requirement. Under the executive order, girls and women ages nine to 21 who are eligible for public assistance will be able to receive Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil at no cost beginning immediately. The parents of three Texas girls last month filed in a Travis County, Texas, court challenging Perry's authority to issue the executive order. The lawsuit seeks to suspend the use of state funds for purchasing the vaccine until the matter is resolved, the group's attorney, Kenneth Chaiken, has said (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/26). The House on Tuesday is scheduled to debate a bill that would halt any mandatory HPV vaccination program (Hoppe, Dallas Morning News, 3/13).

Study Finds Greater Cervical Cancer Risk for Minorities, Rural Residents
A report by the Texas Department of State Health Services found that minority women and women who live in rural counties in Texas have a greater risk of developing cervical cancer and that requiring a HPV vaccination for all middle school-aged girls in the state could help eliminate the disparity, the Chronicle reports (Elliott, Houston Chronicle, 3/12). Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline's HPV vaccine Cervarix in clinical trials have been shown to be 100% effective in preventing infection with HPV strains 16 and 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases. FDA in July 2006 approved Gardasil for sale and marketing to girls and women ages nine to 26, and CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices later that month voted unanimously to recommend that girls ages 11 and 12 receive the vaccine (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/23). According to the report, titled "Cervical Cancer in Texas," cervical cancer rates are highest in the state among Hispanics, and mortality rates are highest among blacks. Cervical cancer incidence and mortality also are higher in rural counties. In addition, 82% of women in the state have had a Pap test in the last three years, but rates are significantly lower for minority women and women living in rural counties and areas that border Mexico, according to the report. The report stated, "Eliminating cervical cancer mortality requires HPV vaccination and support for routine cervical cancer screening and treatment for every woman in the state" (Houston Chronicle, 3/12).














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View drug information on Cervarix [Human Papillomavirus Bivalent; Gardasil.