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HPV Article Withdrawn Without Detailed Explanation by Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health
By Gayle DeLong, CHD Contributing Writer [2]
Children’s Health Defense [2]
About the sudden withdrawal of my paper, “A lowered probability of pregnancy in females in the USA aged 25-29 who received a human papillomavirus vaccine injection” in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health.
In June 2018, the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A published my article “A lowered probability of pregnancy in females in the USA aged 25-29 who received a human papillomavirus vaccine injection”. Data revealed that 60% of women who had not received the HPV vaccine had been pregnant at least once, while only 35% of HPV vaccine recipients had ever conceived. The article detailed the statistical analysis as well as offered possible biological mechanisms for the results. Three researchers peer-reviewed the article. When the article first appeared, the editors eagerly promoted it by making it free. By early December 2019, the number of downloads reached close to 24,000.
On October 23, 2019, I received an email stating that academic publisher Taylor & Francis and Editor-in-Chief Dr. Sam Kacew had opened an investigation of the paper, based on “several public and private expressions of concern about flaws in analysis.” They gave me two weeks to respond to comments from four post-publication reviewers, and I did so. On December 10, 2019, I received an email from Taylor and Francis stating that despite my comments, the “concerns raised by the reviewers still stand,” and they were retracting the article. Since the retraction, the number of downloads has increased to 24, 227.
It is perhaps ironic that Taylor & Francis has just asked me to review an article for another journal. Evidently, Taylor & Francis first promoted me as an important and reliable researcher. Then they withdrew my article without detailed explanation. And now, just a few days later, once again treat me as an important and reliable researcher.
The Retraction Notice
In the retraction notice [3], Taylor & Francis state that all post-publication reviews, “described serious flaws in the statistical analysis and interpretation of the data in this paper” without going into any detail. However, one of their reviewers determined that I had been careful with the limitations and conclusions of the paper. That reviewer agreed with me that an open debate concerning the findings of the paper specifically as well as vaccine safety in general is essential.
The manner in which Taylor & Francis is handling these post-publication criticisms is highly unusual. Typically, if a researcher sees a flaw in a published paper, he or she openly writes a letter to the editor, to which the author can reply. Both the critique and the reply are published in the journal.
A basic principle of medical ethics holds that if there is evidence that a treatment, drug or vaccine may be dangerous, even if that evidence is not conclusive, we must investigate those possible problems until we have settled the question one way or another. Suppressing studies simply because we disagree with them only stifles legitimate scientific debate. My paper did not claim to offer a final answer to this issue. It simply raised concerns and called for further investigation into a question that may have an enormous impact on the reproductive health of millions of women.
Major post-publication criticisms – as identified by Editor-in-Chief Kacew – along with my responses are as follows:
- Methodological Issues: Potential confounders are not accounted for or simply ignored such as an economic downturn, societal trends including postponing pregnancy, increased women in the workforce, changes in contraceptive use, contraceptive failure rates, etc. All these factors impact pregnancy but were not addressed.
The trends mentioned in this criticism address the decline in the overall birth rate. The value of my study is that each observation identifies whether a woman received the HPV vaccine and whether that woman had ever been pregnant. To confirm that overall trends were not influencing the results, I added time trends to the statistical analysis and the results remained: Women who received the HPV vaccine were less likely to have ever been pregnant.
- Misinterpretation of Data: Extrapolation of results that the number of pregnancies due to the vaccine are unfounded and supported by findings from studies by an author that uses VAERS database that relies on self-reported adverse events without verification makes the results dubious.
The data I use come from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which is a non-random survey of people living in the United States. By design, each observation represents many more people than the individual who is surveyed. The very essence of NHANES is to generalize from the observations, and the database includes specific weights for each observation.
The comment about the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) is not relevant. While I cite an author who uses VAERS, the citation serves merely as background and plays no major role in the analysis.
- Validity Questionable: The issues of selection bias, lack of similar observations in USA and Europe, weak biological plausibility and inaccurate statement regarding dose response are all factors that raise doubts regarding the data.
These criticisms are flat out wrong.
No selection bias exists: I use every observation where the person surveyed includes answers to all the questions I use in the analysis. There are similar observations in Europe: In a separate study, I show that birth rates are falling in European countries that have implemented wide-spread HPV vaccine programs. That study is here [4]. Not only does biological plausibility exist, studies continue to be published that point to a link between the autoimmunity that vaccines can induce and fertility issues. The statement regarding dose response in the paper is correct: I confirmed my interpretation with two independent statisticians.
- Statistical analysis: The use of the SAS package in this case is not appropriate as this package cannot judge the validity of the questions asked, the selection of variables are biased especially as this statistical model excluded variables in the NHANES data such as contraceptive use. The authors do not provide criteria for including or excluding variables which is crucial.
The data used in the analysis come from the U.S. government. If the responses to questions asked in the course of a national survey sponsored by the U.S. government are not valid, why ask the questions?
The variables I include – age, income, education, and race/ethnicity – are standard demographic and socioeconomic factors that could affect the probability of ever being pregnant.
Concerning contraception, the NHANES database contains fragmentary data. The survey includes questions on only three types of contraception, and many women provided no response to the questions. Certainly, a follow-up study to determine whether contraceptive use influences the results is warranted, but it is beyond the scope of this database and this paper. Certainly, further study is warranted.
Feel free to contact me if you are interested in further details: gayle.delong@baruch.cuny.edu [5].
Read the full article at ChildrensHealthDefense.org [2]
Comment on this article at VaccineImpact.com [6]
© 2019 Children’s Health Defense, Inc.
This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of Children’s Health Defense, Inc.
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More information about Gardasil [9]
Images of a few of the women we have done articles about who had their lives destroyed by the HPV vaccine.
14-Year-Old Active Girl in Wisconsin Suffers Over 300 Seizures After Gardasil Vaccine – Doctor Refuses to Consider Gardasil Cause due to Fear of Losing Research Funding [10]
Illinois Teen Dies Three Weeks After Being Injected with HPV Gardasil Vaccine [11]
California Nurse Gives Gardasil Vaccine to Own Daughter who Develops Leukemia and Dies [12]
Infant Accidentally Vaccinated with Gardasil – Mother Blamed for Vaccine Injuries and Baby Medically Kidnapped [13]
The Happy-go-Lucky Girl I had Pre-HPV Vaccine is Gone Forever [14]
Iowa Girl Faces Death: Life Destroyed by Gardasil Vaccine [15]
Gardasil Vaccine Given without Consent and Ruins Life of 14 Year Old Girl [16]
After 3 Years of Suffering 19 Year Old Girl Dies from Gardasil Vaccine Injuries [17]
Gardasil: The Decision We Will Always Regret [18]
15 Year Old French Girl’s “Descent into Hell” After Gardasil Vaccine – Wheelchair Bound and Paralyzed [19]
The Gardasil Vaccine After-Life: My Daughter is a Shadow of Her Former Self [20]
Gardasil: An Experience no Child Should Have to Go Through [21]
I Want my Daughter’s Life Back the Way it was Before Gardasil [22]
Gardasil Vaccine: Destroyed and Abandoned [23]
15-Year-Old Vaccinated by Force with Gardasil now Suffers from Paralysis and Pain [24]
Recovering from my Gardasil Vaccine Nightmare [25]
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If I Could Turn Back Time, Korey Would not Have Received any Gardasil Shots [29]
What Doctors Don’t Tell You: Our Gardasil Horror Story [30]
Family Fights U.S. Government over Compensation for Gardasil Vaccine Injuries [31]
Gardasil: When Will our Nightmare End? [32]
HPV Vaccine Injuries: “I Cannot Begin to Describe What it is Like to Watch your Daughter Live in Such Agony” [33]
Gardasil: Don’t Let Your Child Become “One Less” [34]
The Gardasil Vaccine Changed Our Definition of “Normal” [35]
Gardasil: I Should Have Researched First [36]
“They’ve Been Robbed of Their Womanhood” – Local Milwaukee Media Covers Gardasil Vaccine Injuries [37]
Gardasil: The Day Our Daughter’s Life Changed [38]
Gardasil: The Decision I will Always Regret [39]
Gardasil Vaccine: One More Girl Dead [40]
Gardasil: A Parent’s Worst Nightmare [41]
After Gardasil: I Simply Want my Healthy Daughter Back [42]
Gardasil: My Family Suffers with Me [43]
Gardasil Changed my Health, my Life, and Family’s Lives Forever [44]
Gardasil: Ashlie’s Near-Death Experience [45]
Gardasil: My Daughter’s Worst Nightmare [46]
My Personal Battle After the Gardasil Vaccine [47]
Gardasil: The Worst Thing That Ever Happened to Me [48]
A Ruined Life from Gardasil [49]
HPV Vaccines: My Journey Through Gardasil Injuries [50]
The Dark Side of Gardasil – A Nightmare that Became Real [51]
Toddler Wrongly Injected with Gardasil Vaccine Develops Rare Form of Leukaemia [52]
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