Press Release
Issued to all major news outlets, by Your Health Freedom, on behalf of Kathleen Berrett, Colton Berrett’s mother.
January 9, 2018 OREM, UTAH— A 17-year old boy who suffered paralyzing transverse myelitis two weeks after receiving a third dose of Merck’s Gardasil vaccine four years ago has died. Colton Berrett became the first male face of Gardasil injury after appearing in an interview with the creators of Vaxxed: From Cover-up to Catastrophe in August, 2016.
Colton’s doctor who administered the Gardasil series initially claimed it would protect the teen’s future wife from cancer. However, once Colton became permanently paralyzed by severe spinal cord swelling–and ventilator dependent, for life–his doctor immediately ceased providing the controversial vaccine to male patients in his practice.
As with many teens injured by Gardasil, Colton was extraordinarily athletic prior to receiving the vaccine, excelling in baseball, Motocross, and skiing. On video, Colton appeared optimistic about adjusting to his new life, one which required a neck brace, arm sling, and permanent attachment to a respirator. After learning to walk again, he began to ride a modified bicycle and accompanied his family on camping trips. He met with former Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz in September, 2016, to speak about his injuries.
Colton’s death comes on the heels of a December, 2017, Slate investigative article that exposed faulty side effect reporting in the Gardasil safety trials. Slate alleges that rather than reporting all new developments, trial investigators were authorized to withhold information regarding Gardasil side effects from regulators. Instead of sharing the information, trial investigators reported it on a form entitled “New Health History,” which was not submitted to licensing authorities.
Colton’s family is now grieving his loss a second time. “It was truly heartbreaking to have to mourn our son while he was still alive. Now this pain is even worse,” Colton’s mother, Kathleen Berrett, said in a statement to local media.