"Cancer strikes fear in people's hearts around globe. So the appearance of a vaccine to prevent cancer-as we are assured the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine will-seemed like a game-changer. Since 2006, over eighty countries have approved the vaccine, with glowing endorsements from the world's foremost medical authorities. Bringing in over $2.5 billion in annual sales, the HPV vaccine is a pharmaceutical juggernaut. Yet scandal now engulfs it worldwide....

"In Not Quite a Cancer Vaccine, medical anthropologist S.D. Gottlieb explores how the vaccine Gardasil--developed against the most common sexually-transmitted infection, human papillomavirus (HPV)--was marketed primarily as a cervical cancer vaccine. Gardasil quickly became implicated in two pre-existing debates--about adolescent sexuality and pediatric vaccinations more generally. Prior to its market debut, Gardasil seemed to offer female empowerment,...