"When many cures are offered for a disease, it means the disease is not curable" -Anton Chekhov
''Once you tell people there's a cure for something, the more likely they are to pressure doctors to prescribe it.'' -Robert Ehrlich, drug advertising executive.
"Opinions are like sphincters, everyone has one." - Chris Rangel
New Hampshire has critics of the vaccine, too. But its health officials, wanting to encourage use of the vaccine, called Gardasil, say they have hit on an optimal method: making it voluntary and giving it free to girls ages 11 to 18.
By "effective" I meant effective at enticing girls to have the vaccine. It's true that the cost/effectiveness of the vaccine is something that remains to be seriously debated before we rush into government mandates. That's why it's so frustrating to see the NEJM giving such prominent voice in its pages to the old canard that objections to the vaccine are based on morality.
It's nice to see this editorial as a counterweight to the perspective article published in the same issue.