Federal Judge dismisses 1,100 shingles vax lawsuits

Why does this matter for the NVICP?

The shingles vaccine, Zostavax, from Merck is not covered in the NVICP. The reason, it is not been approved for routine administration to children. Many adults have been injured, most of them claiming hearing loss or autoimmune disorders. Any filed petitions seeking compensation have been dismissed from the NVICP.

Thus a person who claims injury from the Zostavax can actually sue Merck in court. However, getting there is very difficult, extremely expensive, and may take many years.

A few years ago, several lawfirms started to contact any person who may have been injured from the vaccine. Their hope was to create a large group of plaintiffs and ask a federal court seeking class action status.

That happened and now they are in court suing Merck. The federal court, US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, as part of a federal multidistrict litigation, created 3 groups of plaintiffs.

Group A - developing shingles after the vaccine.

Group B - developing autoimmune disorders

Group C - loss of hearing

This past week, Federal Judge Harry Bartle dismissed over 1,100 lawsuits that were part of a large class action against Merck.

The dismissed claims all allege that the plaintiff developed shingles after receiving the Zostavax vaccine. Group A.

The dismissal action was the result of medical expert testimony that was excluded. The defendant, Merck, had maintained that the Zostavax was only effective around 50% and waned over time.

Merck introduced evidence that there has been only 1 claim from an immunocompetent adult who developed shingles after the vax.

So the question is if there were over 1,100 members of the class that allege shingles after vax, why did the judge believe Merck and their “evidence” and not let a jury decide the fate of the class?

What remains active in the class are hundreds of plaintiffs who developed autoimmune disorders (ADEM, TM, meningitis, hemorrhagic stroke) in Group B and another set, Group C that allege they lost hearing after the vaccine.

According to the trial calendar, a trial is set for 2023 for the autoimmune disorders and possibly 2024 for the hearing loss.

So why is this important to keep an eye on regarding vaccine injuries that are part of the NVICP? Many have called for the abolishment of the NVICP. While the program does not function properly for many of adult severe injuries and is absolutely horrible for children injuries, trying to litigate these injuries in front of a judge and jury is extremely difficult, expensive and a lengthy process.

Keep learning, keep challenging yourself and always, always question authority

Wayne Rohde is the author of The Vaccine Court 2.0 released June 2021 along with previous book, The Vaccine Court released November 2014. www.thevaccinecourt.com

His upcoming book, Global Compensation Programs, examines both traditional vaccine injury compensation schemes from many nations around the world plus how countries handled COVID vax injuries. Book scheduled for release Summer 2023