An Ohio man has been charged with a first degree misdemeanor after he allegedly used a law-enforcement computer network to gather information on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber. • North Carolina lawmakers have redefined "life sentence" to mean 80 years. According to the new definition, 20 convicted criminals are now set for release, including several men convicted of raping young girls. • According to a report released by the National Science Foundation, only 33% of people working in science are women. The scarcity of women in science is especially noticeable in the "hard sciences," including the study of radioactive elements. • This photograph, cleverly captioned "Career Choices for Girls According to Videogames" provides a single piece of the puzzle as to why many young girls feel their only options are fashion designer, cheerleader, or professional housekeeper. • John McCain has asked Obama to posthumously pardon black boxer Jack Johnson, who was imprisoned in 1913 for his romantic involvement with a white woman. • As part of an attempt to get male students to be "Renaissance men," Morehouse College in Atlanta has forbidden them from wearing baggy pants, sunglasses, do-rags and clothing "normally worn by women." • Politicians often write books to boost their careers, but Sarah Palin may be a simpler soul. Says onetime Republican spokesman Ron Bonjean, "her goal is to make a whole lot of money." •

• A recent poll found that Russians are the most snap-happy - and possibly the most vain - people in Europe. Russians are also more likely to post pictures of themselves online than any other group studied. • Several schools in the UK have halted HPV vaccination following the death of a young girl. Although officials say the vaccine is safe, the batch that was administered to Natalie Morton is under investigation. • The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has temporarily shelved the approval of Cervarix, another HPV vaccine marketed as an alternative to Gardasil. Officials state that this is unrelated to the recent death in Britain, but the vaccine is under review. • And in other cervical cancer news, a HPV vaccine will be available in Japan by year's end, according to a government panel. • The Detroit City Council are considering an amendment that would ban lap dances and require club workers to get certified for their positions. • Lawmakers across the pond have announced that starting today, police will have the power to ban anyone arrested for domestic violence from their home for up to 14 days. They hope that the new domestic violence protection orders - known as "go orders" - will give victims some much-needed "breathing space." • New research indicates that elderly men are more likely than elderly women to attempt suicide. Researchers also report that women who attempt suicide multiple times are likely to "complete suicide." • Maoist activists gathered on Thursday to protest the "Miss Nepal" pageant. "The contest is a forum where women are used by companies to popularize and sell their products," said protest leader Manu Humagain. "It is a blow to the dignity of the women. We oppose it." •

• New research to be published in the September issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology suggests that greater use of mifepristone, aka the abortion pill, has not helped to expand geographic access to abortion services. Most of the abortions performed with mifepristone were done in the same clinics, or nearby clinics, where surgical abortions are also available. • The anti-abortion group Operation Rescue is planning to protest outside of women's health clinics all over the country for 40 days starting on September 23. • Schools in the DC area have begun distributing the HPV vaccine to 6th grade girls. Although parents are allowed to opt out, there is still a group of activists who believe that the vaccine needs more testing. "They are using our girls as guinea pigs," said district resident Tracy Lloyd. • A woman is suing a Chicago zoo after she slipped and fell on water that had been splashed out of the tank by some playful dolphins. She claims the zoo officials "recklessly and willfully trained and encouraged the dolphins to throw water at the spectators in the stands, making the floor wet and slippery. • Sean Lynde of New York has been accused by animal control officials of murdering five of his girlfriend's cats. Authorities say his girlfriend didn't realize he was beating her cats to death and would replace each cat after he killed it. • The BBC has seen a copy of South African 800m world champion Caster Semenya's birth certificate, which proves she is female. She was reportedly so upset about being forced to take a gender verification test that she didn't want to accept her medal. • The cover of the newspaper The Maine Edge features a picture of a young teen girl in a bikini straddling a milk shake above an article called "Milkshakes aren't just for kids any more. Beat the heat with a grown up treat." What does an overly-sexual image of a teen girl have to do with "grown up" treats? •

Yesterday, CDC and FDA researchers published an analysis of the side effects associated with the human papillomavirus vaccine - which has been linked to 32 deaths since 2006 - in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). As of June 1, 23 million doses of Gardasil have been distributed, and there was an average of 53.9 complaints filed with the government for every 100,000 vaccine doses, which ABC News reports is similar to the number of complaints filed for other vaccines.

Experts say the complaint data is limited because anyone can file one and the reports are not verified, but only 6.2 percent of the reported complaints were considered serious and lead to hospitalization, permanent disability or death. Compared to other vaccines, users of Gardasil were more likely to report fainting or blood clots, but the JAMA study showed 90 percent of the 56 women who reported developing blood clots had other risk factors like smoking, being overweight, or using oral contraceptives. "Although the number of serious adverse events is small and rare, they are real and cannot be overlooked or dismissed without disclosing the possibility to all other possible vaccine recipients," Dr. Diane Harper, director of the Gynecologic Cancer Prevention Research Group at University of Missouri told ABC News, "The rate of serious adverse events is greater than the incidence rate of cervical cancer."

The FDA and CDC continue to recommend the vaccine for women ages 9 to 26, but now the consensus in the medical community is that doctors need to be more educated about the risk of cervical cancer and the vaccine's side effects. Dr. Joseph Zanga, chief of pediatrics at the Columbus Regional Healthcare system in Columbus, GA, told ABC News that HPV infections may clear up on their own and that routine pap smears are still the best prevention against cervical cancer. He added:

"Perhaps the most important, currently missing 'warning' is that the vaccine may not be forever... we know that it protects for 5-7 years so that a girl getting the series at [age] 11-12 will enter the time of her most likely sexual debut unprotected but believing herself to be."

But finding unbiased information on Gardasil's side effects may have been complicated by the vaccine's manufacturer. A separate article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that at least three medical associations promoted the vaccine using money provided by Merck. The analysis of the pharmaceutical company's marketing techniques by Columbia University public health experts revealed that the American College Health Association, the American Society for Colopscopy and Cervical Pathology, and the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists used the same strategies as Merck to promote the vaccine and did always not disclose that they were accepting money from the company, The Washington Post reports. Merck and the three medical societies say it was not inappropriate for the groups to each accept about $200,000 to $300,000 from the drug company because they money funded education programs about the vaccine but didn't influence their content.

In the JAMA article the Columbia researchers say that the medical societies used arguments that were very similar to Merck's marketing approach, which downplayed the vaccine's potential side effects and overemphasized the threat of cervical cancer to adolescents. According to the American Cancer Society, 11,000 women in the U.S. develop cervical cancer every year, and 4,070 die from it, but USA Today reports that many of the deaths are among poor white women in Appalachia, black women in the South, and Latinas along the Texas-Mexico border. Since cervical cancer can be detected by regular pap smears, these women without access to medical care are most likely to die from it. Dr. Sheila Rothman, the article's co-author, wrote that Merck "practically ignored" these at risk groups, and focused instead on the message that all women are equally at risk, helping the company reach as many customers as possible.

A representative for Merck said that there are several programs that make the vaccine available to poor women, but the JAMA report says these facts were not emphasized in the medical society's marketing material, which often failed to mention that they received Merck funding. "It screeched the message, 'all women are at equal risk, protect yourself from cervical cancer, and this is the way to do it,'" said Rothman, "The fact that the medical societies repeated this message is what concerns us."

Gardasil HPV Vaccine Faces Safety Questions [ABC News]
Medical Groups Promoted HPV Vaccine Using Drug Company Money [The Washington Post]
Report: HPV Vaccine May Be Going To The Wrong Women [USA Today]

• Researchers have taken on the conventional wisdom that many dogs resemble their owners, but the results are mixed. Some found that dogs do show similar facial expressions as their owners, but others say the entire idea is bull. • The Sudanese woman charged with indecency for wearing pants has been banned from leaving the country, she said Tuesday. Lubna Hussein faces 40 lashes for being caught in loose-fitting trousers. • A new study found that middle-aged men who idealize masculinity are 50% less likely than other men to seek health care. "This research strongly suggests that deep-seated masculinity beliefs are one core cause of men's poor health, inasmuch as they reduce compliance with recommended preventative health services," said researcher Kristen W. Springer. • Researchers have linked the use of food stamps to weight gain among women. They found no signs of a similar trend among men. • According to the Wall Street Journal, many young couples are experiencing the fatigue of constant companionship that usually comes with retirement. Unemployed or recently laid off lovers are bugging each other about minor things, and apparently, this is a downer. • Cool lady-director Katheryn Bigelow has announced her next project: An adventure movie titled "Triple Frontier," set on the border of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. • Professor Catherine Lumby, an adviser to the Australian National Rugby League on women's issues says that intimate partner violence is an issue in the Australian Football League. "I hate to say (it) but it remains epidemic, sexual violence, physical violence," she said in an interview with ABC radio. • The International Olympic Committee is considering adding women's boxing to the lineup for the 2012 London Olympics. Also under consideration: Mixed doubles tennis and 50-meter sprints in swimming. • A researcher from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center found that only half the doctors in Texas are recommending the HPV vaccine to girls age 11-12. In 2006, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended that all girls 11-12 should be vaccinated for HPV, but many doctors remain reluctant to discuss the vaccine. • A report released today by UNAIDS states that 50 million women in Asia are at risk for contracting HIV from their boyfriends or husbands. More than 90% of Asian women with HIV/AIDS were exposed to the virus by their long-term partners. • Amateur tennis champ Nancy Griffin is suing the city of Raleigh for discrimination and emotional damages after a men's league, sponsored by the city, banned her from playing. •

This isn't the first time we've heard that pap smears may be on their way out, but the results of the study of 130,000 women in India have put "another nail in the coffin" for Pap smears, as Stanford professor of gynecology Dr. Paul D. Blumenthal puts it in The New York Times. Scientists say that the new test could replace cruder screening methods in poor countries and allow women over 30 in wealthy countries to drop annual Pap smears and have a DNA test once every 3, 5, or 10 years.

The new study divided healthy Indian women between the ages of 30 and 59 into four groups. One group got the usual rural care, which is just advice to go to a hospital if they wanted screening. Another group got a "visualization" test, typical in poorer countries, in which a health worker looks at the cervix with a flashlight and swabs it with vinegar. Any white spots that develop may be precancerous lesions, so they are frozen off. A third group got pap smears and the fourth got a DNA test. For both tests cells are scraped from the cervix, but for the Pap test the cells are examined by a pathologist in lab and the results take days, while the DNA test can be read by a machine within hours.

After eight years, the control group and the visualization group had the same rates of cervical cancer and death, while the Pap-smear group had three-fourths the rates. Women who had the DNA test had half the rates of cancer and death, but none of the women who were negative on their DNA test died of cervical cancer.

Qiagen, the company that makes the DNA test, has developed a $5 version for use in poor countries that runs on batteries and doesn't require water or refrigeration. If a woman was tested just once every ten years and her results were negative, the chances that she would develop cancer would be low. In countries where women are hesitant to get pelvic exams, doctors say they test would still work if the women took the vaginal swab themselves.

Currently in poorer countries cervical cancer kills more than 250,000 woman a year. In the U.S. the cancer was a leading cause of death in the 1950s, but now it kills fewer than 4,000 women a year. In Europe most women don't start having Pap smears until 30, but the American Cancer society currently recommends that woman start yearly testing three years after they have sex, or no later than 21. After several normal results they may start testing only every three years. There are 150 strains of the human papillomavirus and cervical cancer is caused by only a few. Women pick up strains when they start having sex but most cases clear up on their own in about two years, and it's rare that the cancer would develop in under 15 years.

In 2002, the cancer society and the American College of Obstretricians and Gynocologists began recommending the HPV test as well and there is increasing evidence that the Pap smear is no longer necessary. "But we haven't been able to get doctors to go along," Dr. Debbie Salsow of the American Cancer Society said. "The average gynecologist, especially the older ones, says, ‘Women come in for their Pap smear, and that's how we get them in here to get other care.' We're totally overscreening, but when you've been telling everyone for 40 years to get an annual Pap smear, it's hard to change."

[Image via morgueFile.]

DNA Test Outperforms Pap Smear [The New York Times]
Cervical Cancer: Prevention And Early Detection [The American Cancer Society]

Earlier: New Study Suggests Pap Smears May Be Thing Of The Past

A study from the Karolinska Institute found that subjects with the human papillomavirus in their mouths are more likely to get tonsil cancer. It takes 20 to 30 years for an HPV infection to result in cancer, so those who are sick today were infected in the '70s and '80s. Of 120 patients in the city who got the cancer between 2003 and 2007, at least 83 were HPV-positive. Doctors hope that the new HPV vaccine will help reduce the rate of tonsil cancer, especially because the disease has almost no symptoms and often goes untreated until it spreads to the lymph nodes. Researcher Tina Dalianis says if people "have a lump in their throat, especially if it's on one side and it doesn't go away with antibiotics, they should see a doctor." [USA Today]

[Image via Flickr.]

Pharmaceutical company Merck has had a human papillomavirus vaccine for males in the works for some time and is currently seeking FDA approval for the vaccine. In women, HPV causes genital warts and can lead to cervical cancer, which about 10,000 women are diagnosed with each year. For men, the vaccine also prevents HPV, which can cause penile and anal cancer, and cancer of the mouth and throat. About 7,500 men are diagnosed with these cancers per year and vaccinating boys also helps prevent the spread of the virus to men's sexual partners.

Though there have been concerns raised about the safety of the vaccine for girls, the debate has centered mostly on whether being vaccinated against the STD would make girls more likely to have sex. Now that there is a male vaccine people are focusing on whether it's safe and cost effective to have boys vaccinated, especially when they can't get cervical cancer, reports The Washington Post. The prospect of boys sleeping around hasn't entered into the debate. "We are still more worried about the promiscuity of girls than the promiscuity of boys," said Susan M. Reverby, a professor of women's studies and medical history at Wellesley College. "There's still that double standard."

Since the male vaccine was proposed, people have wondered if parents would be willing to vaccinate their sons. "For girls, you can go right to protection against cervical cancer. That's a powerful argument," said Gregory D. Zimet, a professor of pediatrics and psychology at Indiana University. "For boys, you have to make several arguments. Part of it is an altruistic argument. I think it's persuasive, but it's more complex." Debbie Stein of Maryland says she would have her 11-year-old son vaccinated. "My feeling is it's a serious virus that causes cancer, and there's no reason not to vaccinate him," she said. "I think it will protect him and protect his wife in the future. I don't want to see him when he's 35 or 40 have a wife die of cancer."

Merck says they won't launch another big (and ultimately unsuccessful) push to have schools require boys be vaccinated like they did after the FDA approved Gardasil for girls in 2006. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is currently examining the results of a study presented last month on the safety of the vaccine for boys. If the panel endorses it, that will influence whether schools require the shot, and if insurance companies will cover the costs.

In June the committee will consider several cost-benefit analysis, since the vaccine costs about $500 for three shots. Though vaccinating boys will reduce the amount of virus that is transmitted back to girls, some are questioning if it's worth it since boys are less affected by cancers associated with HPV. Professor Zimet says questions of cost shouldn't be what's driving public health policy. "This is a vaccine that principally benefits women's health. I wonder if it was the reverse, and there was a vaccine for women that helped prevent prostate cancer in men, this would be as much of an issue," he said.

A Vaccine Debate Once Focused on Sex Shifts as Boys Join the Target Market [The Washington Post]

Earlier: Drugmaker Seeks FDA Approval For Gardasil For Males
Gardasil For Guys: Will Boys Get It?

• A 31-year-old Iranian, blind from an acid attack by a spurned suitor, is demanding that the judge follow the ancient tradition of "eye for an eye" punishment and blind her attacker. • Bollywood-style dance classes, which mix traditional Indian folk dances with hip-hop moves, are a growing trend in fitness. • Virgin has instituted a "kissing ban" at one of their U.K. train stations because they believe that kissing couples were delaying trains. The introduction of a "kissing zone" outside the station really saps all the romance out of a goodbye kiss. • European medicine watchdogs have concluded that the HPV vaccine Gardasil did not cause seizures and loss of consciousness in two Spanish girls who had just been vaccinated. • New research indicates that physical activity improves the quality of life in postmenopausal women. The study found that women reported better mental health even if they did not lose weight. • This month's E-Poll indicates that women are most likely to make an effort to watch daytime dramas, but they would really miss Judge Judy if her show were to be canceled. • A Valentine's Day Craigslist ad in Texas has been revealed as a prank. The ad, which offered sexual favors to men, showed a photo of a woman named "Jennifer" and promised that she would "moan like Shamu." • UMen, a Middle Eastern men's magazine, recently ran a feature titled "Reasons Why Women Can't Drive." The list of "reasons" included: women have dogs in the front seat (??), and women "lack the driving gene." • Paula Oliveira, the Brazilian woman who was allegedly attacked by Swiss skinheads, has confessed that the entire story was an elaborate lie, complete with self-mutilation. • Doctors hope that a new device, implanted under the skin near the collar bone, will help sufferers of chronic obsessive compulsive disorder by sending pulses of electricity to the brain. • A 20-year-old Kansas City woman was explaining that she no longer loved her ex-boyfriend, only to be interrupted by gunshots. She was unharmed, but police later found the bullet, shot by her ex-boyfriend, tangled in her weave. • China's economic slump has lead many professional Chinese women to seek jobs as maids and nannies. • This Friday will mark the first time women are allowed to compete in ski jumping in the Nordic skiing World Championship. Athletes hope that the Olympic committee will also open the sport to women. •

• A convenience store in Britain has issued an apology after a customer found used condoms in the cardboard packaging of a four-pack of beer. • Scientists have created a "living doll" made of human cancer cells, which they believe may be useful in the testing of new treatments. The neon-green, human-shaped doll is made up of 100,000 "beads" of connective protein. • Skate Canada is trying out a new marketing campaign designed to highlight the more "rough and tumble" aspects of figure skating in order to make it seem "more manly." Good luck with that! • A new study shows that although African Americans are aware of the benefits of the HPV vaccine, only 24% of eligible black female adolescents have received the shots. • In what has got to be one of the tackiest breakups since the (fictional) SATC Post-It message, a British man recently used Facebook updates to inform his wife that he was leaving her. Sensitivity: ur doin it wrong. • Today, the BBC features an article on the history of women serving in the military, in honor of the WRAC's 60th Birthday. Since the beginning, recruitment campaigns have stressed the importance of retaining femininity while serving in the armed forces. • A study performed on mice has found that the childhood environment of the mother can effect the development of memory in her offspring. Previous research in "mouse models" has also shown that mothers with an enriched environment while pregnant are more likely to give birth to intelligent babies. • Osama bin Laden has been rejected from the "best job in the world" (looking after Australia's tropical Hamilton Island). Apparently, a video of bin Laden speaking was given subtitles in which he describes himself as "outgoing," "familiar with sandy areas" and experienced with "large scale event coordination." No word yet on whether my application has been accepted. • New research suggests that part of the reason teens are such brats is because they'e simply unable to see any point of view other than their own due to underdeveloped brains. • A group of American female badminton players were denied visas after being invited to participate in a tournament in Iran. • Nadya Suleman, the suddenly-famous mother of octuplets, has been discharged from the hospital. Suleman has also chosen NBC's Ann Curry (ugh) to tell her story. She can look forward to an interview filled with non-questions and vague rambling! • The 14-year-old former "wife" of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs has been receiving instructions to "stay angry" and to "keep crying, pout, sleep in." • Alexandra Vdovina, a 92-year-old Russian woman, lost her savings and her sheep after being slapped with a huge fine for an accident caused by one of her sheep wandering into the road. Francis Monkman, a British composer and musician, has offered to pay the fine, and provide her enough money to purchase some new livestock. • Former Giants slugger Barry Bonds has been accused of using steroids during the 2003 baseball season. Federal prosecutors say that Bonds was also taking a female fertility drug to mask the evidence of the 'roids. • An Australian cow that was struck by lightning has miraculously survived, and is already back out roaming the fields. • A 68-year-old woman in South Korea has failed her driving test 771 times. Surprisingly, it is not the actual driving portion she finds difficult, but the written part of the exam. • A teenage boy from outside Milwaukee has been accused of tricking at least 31 male classmates into sending him nude pictures, and then using the photos as blackmail to pressure them into sex. • Two women were arrested for kissing in a mall. The lesbian couple now faces charges that range from trespassing to assaulting an officer. • A 60-year-old Canadian woman has given birth to twins after going to India for fertility treatments. • An Austrian insurance company is facing charges of discrimination after refusing to hire people because of their astrological signs.

Gardasil first hit the market in 2006 and was initially recommended for girls and young women, ages 12-26. Due to aggressive marketing, Gardasil quickly became one of Merck’s top-selling vaccines, with sales of $1.5 billion in 2007 (which were perhaps aided by the high cost- $360 for a three-dose regimen). Despite becoming a requirement for immigrant women, sales slowed in 2008 after a government-funded Harvard study found that it was not cost-effective to administer Gardasil to women in their 20s.

Gardasil for men is not a new idea. Merck has long planned to release a vaccine specifically for males, which seems like a great idea considering that men are more than simply the carriers of HPV. Men infected with HPV run the risk of getting cancer of the genitals or mouth, not to mention genital warts. In Merck’s initial testing, Gardasil prevented 90 percent of cases of penile cancer and genital warts in the 4,000 males, ages 16-26, who received the vaccine.

But before Gardasil for men becomes available to the general public, the FDA must approve Merck’s request, a process that can take up to a year to complete. And while Gardasil is effective at preventing certain types of cancer, the vaccine is not without controversy. In 2008, reports of several deaths that were believed to be linked to the Gardasil vaccine surfaced, leading several news outlets to claim that Gardasil was a factor. While the CDC contends that the deaths are unrelated to Gardasil shots, there is a lingering resentment against the vaccine, which is currently requirement for all immigrant women seeking their green cards. A rival (and less costly) vaccine called Cervarix is available in many foreign markets, but has yet to be approved for use in the U.S.

Drugmaker Merck Seeks Gardasil Approval For Boys [USA Today]
Cervical Cancer Vaccine- For Boys? [CBS News]
Merck Seeks FDA Approval for Gardasil in Boys [WSJ Health Blog]

Related: Experts Appalled At Gardasil Requirement For Immigrant Women, CDC Finds Deaths Unrelated To Gardasil Shots

• A new study claims that women who gain too much weight during pregnancy
may have their children grow up to be obese teenagers. • Rice Krispies
celebrated its 80th British anniversary on November 10th, marking the 80th year since the cereal was brought from the U.S. to Britain. • Why are movie trailer narrators overwhelmingly male? • Forensics trainees from
Park Point University in Pittsburgh will re-examine the cold case of accused 19th century parent-killer, Lizzie Borden. • U.S. researchers have found stronger brain activity in women who are ovulating and viewing masculinized male faces. • A 26-year-old woman from Florida who was suspected of abusing her daughter will be given custody of her twin children after a three-judge panel on Wednesday determined that she had made sufficient progress as a parent since her daughter was abused in 2002. • A Dallas-area pastor of a mega-church urged his married congregants on Sunday to have sex with their spouses for 7 days straight. • A urologist from Florida has invented a stealth urinal for men called the UroClub which is designed to look like a 7-iron and fit in a golf bag. • Twin panda cubs who were born at the Adventure World amusement park in Wakayama, Japan in September were named Meihin and Eihin today.• A British couple who met online and played Second Life together are getting divorced after the wife found out her husband's avatar was seeing another (virtual) woman. • Is the spider fear a learned behavior? • Malaysia police say that protests from Katagender and Food Not Bombs regarding the recent Muslim edict against women wearing trousers is a security threat. •

The CDC says they were unaware of this consequence, and Dr. Jon Abramson, head of the CDC's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, tells the Journal, "If we had known about it, we would have said it's not a good idea…We don't want someone coming into the U.S. who hasn't been vaccinated against measles or chickenpox, [but] HPV can only be communicated by sexual contact…This is not something that endangers kids in a school setting or puts your population at risk."

Even Merck, the company that manufactures Gardasil and has been accused of overly aggressive lobbying tactics, isn't particularly fond of the requirement. A spokesperson for Merck tells the Journal, "We were not aware of the policy and we did not lobby for this provision in any way." In addition, Gardasil has encountered its fair share of controversy over its efficacy and potential side-effects since becoming widely recommended. The National Association of Pacific American Women's Forum's Priscilla Huang likened the Gardasil requirement to using immigrants as "test subjects" because the research on the vaccine is thought to be incomplete by some. (And with rumored disturbing side-effects.)

Requiring the vaccine — one of the priciest on the market — could cost immigrants as much as $360, and in addition to the $500 or more new United States residents must spend on application fees, the cost is pretty prohibitive. Immigration advocate Tuyet Duong says the requirement "is outrageous; it's creating an economic barrier." The Journal was hard-pressed to find anyone who resoundingly supported forcing immigrants to get the vaccine, and it notes that 'a government official said the cervical vaccine's inclusion on the list might be reviewed." Your bureaucracy at work!

UPDATE: A tipster who works in immigration law writes in: "To make your story even a little worse, the fee for a green card application is $1010. It more than doubled in the summer of 2007. (It is $600 if you are under age 14.) This is not counting the costs of the medical exam, including the vaccines, which must be paid to the doctor in cash."

U.S. Requiring Controversial Vaccine [The Street]
Gardasil Requirement for Immigrants Stirs Backlash [WSJ]

Earlier: Experts Question The Cost Effectiveness Of HPV Vaccine

• MTV promotes "green" campaigns like Switch, but when it comes to the actual production of their shows, the network is very unfriendly towards the environment. • Researchers have found that 90 minutes sitting on a heated car seat can lead to an increased scrotal temperature in men, which may hurt a man's sperm quality. • A Kentucky Court of Appeals has ruled against lesbian couples adopting children as though they are stepparents. • A new website that provides syphilis information to gay men — as well as a referral letter for syphilis testing and a 1-week wait for the tested men to retrieve their results online — shows promise in promoting testing among gay men. • Rachel Bird and Gideon Codding of California refused to complete marriage forms in their state because they wanted to be referred to as "bride" and "groom" on the forms and not by the new gender-neutral terms. • A new study claims that only 3% of Australians have cheated on their loved ones last year, but researchers claim the results would be "radically different" if they measured cheating over a longer time period. • Betty Constable, Princeton's first women's squash coach and a squash pioneer in the United States, died on September 9 at the age of 83. • A British woman has sworn off having children after she recently gave birth to a baby weighing 13 pounds, 4 ounces (the weight of a 6 month old) and had given birth to three previous children who weighed more than 10 pounds at birth. • A new study has found that estrogen creams do not help reduce wrinkles on areas of skin that experience sun exposure (i.e., the face, hands, and neck). • The federal government is considering making Gardasil vaccination mandatory for female immigrants who are seeking U.S. citizenship. • Meanwhile, the FDA has updated the label for Gardasil, saying the vaccine protects against cancers of the vagina and vulva. • Margaret Hoelzer, a U.S. swimmer who won 3 medals at the Beijing Olympics, opens up about being sexually abused by a friend's father when she was 5 years old. •

[Image via JSoul.]

• The creator of 'For Better or Worse,' the long-running comic strip, has announced that the comic strip will travel back 30 years in the past to the time when the strip first began. • Cambridge University is soliciting the producers of popular British soap operas, asking that the school be included in story-lines to help shed the University's snobby image. • Female police officers in the English county of Cumbria now have the option of wearing specially-designed maternity uniforms if they become pregnant. • Last Thursday, the British Columbia Court of Appeal ruled against the assertion that "bubble zones" around abortion clinics — where anti-choice activists harass women entering the clinics — are an infringement on free speech. • Australia has just sworn in its first female governor general (the Queen's representative to Australia), Quentin Bryce. • More firsts for women in Europe: Two women have become the first women to pass Vienna's Spanish Riding School's entrance exam to ride the famous Vienna dancing horses. • The LPGA Tour decided today to banish rules that suspend players who cannot speak English well enough to be understood at pro-ams, in interviews or in making acceptance speeches. • Male Maasai warriors in Kenya who travel to the tourist town of Mombasa to marry white women or find jobs to provide for their community sometimes work as hairdressers, a large cultural taboo. • Disgraced Olympic track star Marion Jones was released from prison today after serving a six-month sentence for lying to federal prosecutors about performance-enhancement drug use. • A new book titled Why Men Die First says that men die earlier than women because they are "more fragile and inherently vulnerable than females" which means they have to visit the doctor often if they want to live long lives. •

Yesterday, an article in the New York Times pointed out that there is a finite amount of funds available in countries that provide universal healthcare, and that shelling out vast sums of cash for a drug whose efficacy is still in question is potentially bad policy. "Some of our provinces are running out of money to provide primary care," Dr. Abby Lippman, a professor at McGill University told the Times. "I'm not against vaccines, but in Canada and the U.S., women are not dying in the streets of cervical cancer."

However, the Times also notes that, "giving the vaccine to 12-year-olds would cost $43,600 for every 'quality adjusted year of life' it saved by preventing a cancer death; that price would often be considered acceptable by health officials in wealthy countries, experts say."

In the end, it appears that researchers need more time to analyze the cost and effects of HPV vaccines before making any sort of definitive statement about them. If you've already received the shots, there's no real evidence that they're destructive, so don't freak out, Chicken Littles. If you haven't had the shot, keep following the research as it emerges, and always ask your doctor as many questions as you need or want to.

Researchers Question Wide Use of HPV Vaccines [NYT]
Drug Makers’ Push Leads To Cancer Vaccines’ Rise [NYT]
Adult Cancer Shot May Not Be Worth High Price [AP via MSNBC]

Earlier: Sore Subjects