Plaintiffs Ask Merck To Submit Data On Zostavax Vaccine

Introduction

According to a motion filed this month, Plaintiff Executive Committee (PEC) indicated that Merck has refused or delayed to provide adverse reports which include details of injuries, complications, and other negative experiences reported by doctors and patients after receiving the Zostavax vaccine.

The plaintiffs requested the court to force the defendant to turn over the data regarding various Zostavax vaccine problems and to produce their standard operating procedures related to adverse event reports. The opposition response filed by the defendant this week claimed that the plaintiffs’ request was overly broad, arguing that they only had to produce adverse event reports involving the same injuries mentioned in the lawsuits filed till date.

Merck & Co. faces nearly 600 product liability claims, each raising similar allegations that the drugmaker failed to warn about the problems associated with the vaccine which the plaintiffs claim was not sufficient to reduce the reactivation of the dormant virus in some people, resulting in severe and persistent shingles outbreaks, as well as various auto-immune disorders. Zostavax litigation is centralized before U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

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