On Bachmann's vaccine claims, scientists unconvinced

Two professors of bioethics, of both Pennsylvania and Minnesota, have offered ten thousand dollars to anyone who can provide irrefutable proof of Michele Bachmann's claims that the HPV vaccine causes mental retardation – or, more specifically, that "the HPV vaccine made a girl mentally retarded." One of the professors termed Bachmann's comments "ethically obscene," and told Bloomberg News that "the stakes are too high to try to get political advantage by putting young women's lives at risk." I couldn't agree more. Bachmann's comments are not only irresponsible but dangerous: the lives of young women are being put at potentially higher risk because, all across the country, a candidate continues to preach medical misinformation to her credulous audiences.

What's worse, should a widespread and accepted correction be announced, Bachmann isn't likely to publicize it among her followers, and their parochialism makes it unlikely that they'll receive it through any other source. I'd hate to be so laconic, but I think 'reckless' suffices to describe her behavior.