3-Part Investigative Series on Merck's Gardasil® Highlights Government Conflicts of Interest in Vaccine Development, Approval and Safety Surveillance http://tvnewslies.org/tvnl/index.php/news/health/14358-3-part-investigative-series-on-mercks-gardasilr-highlights-government-conflicts-of-interest-in-vaccine-development-approval-and-safety-surveillance.html

Blaxill's investigation found an unprecedented vaccine "public-private partnership" between drug companies and DHHS' National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH researchers developed key technology underpinning cervical cancer vaccines. The technology was patented and licensed to pharmaceutical giants Merck and GlaxoSmithKline through the NIH Office of Technology Transfer (OTT). When new products invented at NIH clear the regulatory hurdles at FDA and reach market, OTT shares in the profits and distributes them back to NIH and its staff inventors.

Despite clinical trials lacking a true placebo, FDA approved it for use. The CDC's vaccine advisory committee then recommended Gardasil for universal use by girls. The FDA and CDC jointly conduct the surveillance to decide whether the NIH-invented Gardasil is safe once licensed. Dr. Julie Gerberding served as the Director of the CDC when it approved Gardasil. She is now the president of Merck Vaccines. According to Blaxill, this situation creates "an unprecedented web of conflict, one in which the same departments that are tasked with regulating the health and safety of medical products are also profiting from them."