When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Future

First Lawsuits Against Controversial Cervical Cancer Vaccine

Though no widespread risk had been identified since the release of the Gardasil vaccine, several young French women have suffered what they say are brutal side effects from what was supposed to protect them from cervical cancer.

Opinions vary on the costs and benefits of the cervical cancer vaccine
Opinions vary on the costs and benefits of the cervical cancer vaccine
Emeline Cazi

RIVES - Their mothers thought they were doing the right thing: protecting their daughters against a disease -- cervical cancer – that had been so gravely depicted on television and radio commercials, and was even the subject of a feature film.

But now, Gardasil, the vaccine the two teenagers took after it was put on the market in France back in November of 2006, has transformed their lives into a nightmare, say Laura Agnès, 16, and Laëtitia Celli, 20.

The two young French women recount how their days are interrupted by unpredictable paralysis, headaches and unbearable stomach aches that they say began after the vaccination that was distributed throughout France by Sanofi Pasteur MSD laboratory.

Last week, they sent a claim for indemnification to the Commission of Conciliation and Compensation for Medical Accidents (RCCI) in Lyon. Their lawyer describes the complaint: "The first problems occurred after their injections, and these young girls were in good health before, and there is no previous case of problems in their family."

A vaccine "released blindly"?

Agnès, who lives in Rives, in eastern France, had dreams of being a nurse. "Doctors have advised against the vaccine. However, for this profession, some are obligatory," her mother, Stephanie Agnès, explains. Influenced by the television spots, she decided to have her daughter vaccinated in 2009, when she was 14 years old. "She had not asked for it. I poisoned her. The numbers shocked me. On the news, they were showing women who were victims of this cancer. I told myself that they could not have released this vaccine blindly."

The first medical problems arose several weeks after the first injection: tingling, followed by paralysis in the left leg. It took Laura three months to recover normal use of her leg. At the second injection, when the elbow is touched, the neurologist believed it was a genetic disease, but he found nothing. Results of blood analysis were also good. "During this time, my daughter was going to school as much as she could," her mother says. Laura had to repeat her eighth grade

For Laëtitia Celli, from Digne-les-Bains in southern France, it was also her mother who pushed her to get the vaccine. "Even though she didn't want it," says Rachel Celli, wife of a police officer. "But they scared the hell out of me with their messages." The side effects arose the evening of the first injection: fever, nausea, and dizziness. At the second injection, Laëtitia, then in the 11th grade, describes "a stabbing in her stomach. It was unbearable. The dizziness and the vomiting would come suddenly every two or three days. I had to stop going to class."

Celli describes a life transformed. "I was energetic, I did sports, I saw my friends, and, from one day to the next, it became hell for me. I could no longer even go to the movies, since the light bothered me. At 20 years, I still had other things to do, right?"

Establishing a connection

In response, Sanofi Pasteur sent them to the French Agency for the Safety of Medical Products, which has received 1,700 claims for Gardasil that, like any new medicine registered at the European level, was the subject of a risk assessment plan. These claims concern "essentially the fever during the days just after the injection," says Bernard Delorme, the person responsible for patient and public information.

Some cases of autoimmune diseases were found, "but not more than for other vaccines," he adds. "The proportion of undesirable, serious side effects is the same as those that naturally occur in this segment of the population." In order for these young girls to be compensated, the experts at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry have to establish a link between the vaccine and the symptoms. But as of yet, no doctor has formally discovered this connection.

In Laura Agnès's case, the hospital at Voiron mentions, nevertheless, a "chronic polyradiculoneuropathic condition, probably due to the Gardasil injection." Another medical center in Grenoble, after having observed the "chronology of appearance" of the side effects, judged that, "to be prudent, due to the cost/benefit relationship, the third injection of Gardasil should be skipped."

As for Celli, she has latched onto statements from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry: "Finally someone has started to believe me, and find a solution to my pain."

Read the original story in French

Photo- rachel a. k.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Economy

Lex Tusk? How Poland’s Controversial "Russian Influence" Law Will Subvert Democracy

The new “lex Tusk” includes language about companies and their management. But is this likely to be a fair investigation into breaking sanctions on Russia, or a political witch-hunt in the business sphere?

Photo of President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda

Polish President Andrzej Duda

Piotr Miaczynski, Leszek Kostrzewski

-Analysis-

WARSAW — Poland’s new Commission for investigating Russian influence, which President Andrzej Duda signed into law on Monday, will be able to summon representatives of any company for inquiry. It has sparked a major controversy in Polish politics, as political opponents of the government warn that the Commission has been given near absolute power to investigate and punish any citizen, business or organization.

And opposition politicians are expected to be high on the list of would-be suspects, starting with Donald Tusk, who is challenging the ruling PiS government to return to the presidency next fall. For that reason, it has been sardonically dubbed: Lex Tusk.

University of Warsaw law professor Michal Romanowski notes that the interests of any firm can be considered favorable to Russia. “These are instruments which the likes of Putin and Orban would not be ashamed of," Romanowski said.

The law on the Commission for examining Russian influences has "atomic" prerogatives sewn into it. Nine members of the Commission with the rank of secretary of state will be able to summon virtually anyone, with the powers of severe punishment.

Under the new law, these Commissioners will become arbiters of nearly absolute power, and will be able to use the resources of nearly any organ of the state, including the secret services, in order to demand access to every available document. They will be able to prosecute people for acts which were not prohibited at the time they were committed.

Their prerogatives are broader than that of the President or the Prime Minister, wider than those of any court. And there is virtually no oversight over their actions.

Nobody can feel safe. This includes companies, their management, lawyers, journalists, and trade unionists.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest