Merck Backs Down

I neglected to note this earlier, but on Tuesday -- not long after my column on the subject was published (*) -- Merck announced that it would drop its campaign to make its HPV vaccine mandatory.

The company's decision doesn't mean the mandates are dead: Merck may have withdrawn from the debate, but others are still carrying the torch. But they're on the defensive, and the most recent legislature to vote on the idea -- in Kansas -- has rejected it.

(* No, I'm not taking credit.)