Maryanne Demasi, reports

Maryanne Demasi, reports

Share this post

Maryanne Demasi, reports
Maryanne Demasi, reports
EXCLUSIVE: Whistleblower says Merck ignored evidence linking Gardasil to autoimmune disease

EXCLUSIVE: Whistleblower says Merck ignored evidence linking Gardasil to autoimmune disease

New court filings reveal a clinical trial investigator tried to warn Merck of autoimmune injuries from Gardasil—but says the company shut him down.

Maryanne Demasi, PhD's avatar
Maryanne Demasi, PhD
Aug 04, 2025
∙ Paid
105

Share this post

Maryanne Demasi, reports
Maryanne Demasi, reports
EXCLUSIVE: Whistleblower says Merck ignored evidence linking Gardasil to autoimmune disease
27
19
Share

Newly declassified court documents reveal that Merck ignored internal warnings that its HPV vaccine, Gardasil, could cause autoimmune disorders in young women.

The report—part of the record in the ongoing Robi v Merck case—details how Dr Jesper Mehlsen, a Danish physician and former Merck trial investigator, alerted the company to signs of autonomic dysfunction following vaccination.

According to Mehlsen, those warnings were “discarded.”

Dr Jesper Mehlsen, Danish physician & former Merck trial investigator-turned-whistleblower

He alleges that Merck blocked adverse event reports, misled regulators, and downplayed real-world injury signals—including evidence of elevated autoantibodies in hundreds of young women.

Mehlsen’s report details clinical evidence suggesting that Gardasil can trigger serious autoimmune reactions in a genetically or biologically vulnerable subgroup.

That evidence is now before the court.

An internal warning dismissed

Dr Mehlsen wasn’t always a critic of Gardasil. For years, he collaborated with Merck in conducting clinical trials involving the vaccine.

As principal investigator at Denmark’s Coordinating Research Center, he worked directly with Merck’s Danish branch, overseeing more than 3,000 participants in Gardasil-4 and Gardasil-9 trials.

He served on steering committees, coordinated national recruitment, and co-authored peer-reviewed publications on the vaccine.

But by 2011, Mehlsen noticed a troubling trend.

This post is for paid subscribers

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Maryanne Demasi
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share