The lawyers brought a Gardasil HVP vaccine lawsuit throughout the United States. The law focused on ovarian failure cases that led to infertility in women.
Gardasil is a vaccine intended to prevent HPV human papillomavirus, which spreads cervical cancer in women. The company Merck & Co. developed the vaccine. Merck got FDA approval for Gardasil in 2006 based on deceptive research. Merck launched a misleading marketing campaign to include millions of parents with Gardasil.
What is Gardasil HPV Vaccine?
HPV—Human Papillomavirus is a common virus passed through skin contact. Almost 200 different strains of the HPV virus are found in the skin. Almost ⅔ adults have HPV infection during their lifetime, and less percentage of HPV cases in women can contribute to cervical cancer. The vaccine was approved by the FDA in 20206, and when Merck filed a lawsuit, the company lost billions.
HPV growth in the skin or mucous membrane is called warts, and it spreads by skin contact or intimate contact. Most of the time, HPV infections go unnoticed and resolve independently without any long-term consequences.
However, a few strains grow in the skin and lead to abnormal growth, which develops cervical cancer. These high-risk HPV is a concern for women to develop cervical cancer. This type of HPV targets the cervical tissues and develops the cancer.
The New Research Lead to a Lawsuit
The new research showed that Gardasil can induce autoimmune disorders and a host of other serious complications such as Neuropathy, Postural orthostatic Tachycardia syndrome, and many others. Then, it was claimed that Gardasil HPV Vaccine can increase the risk of cervical cancer.
How Gardasil Lawsuit Started?
The Gardasil lawsuit is not an anti-vax statement, but people are concerned about this specific vaccine and whether it is safe or not. Emerging scientific evidence established the connection between autoimmune health problems and the Gardasil HPV vaccine, which led to the filing of a lawsuit against Merck. The first time it was filed was in the second half of 2020.
The number of Gardasil cases increased slowly throughout 2021. However, victims filed this lawsuit to raise awareness of the health issues associated with Gardasil. The plaintiffs are mostly women who received this vaccination and developed autoimmune diseases and other conditions such as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.
This lawsuit alleges that Merck concealed evidence about the health risks of the vaccine while simultaneously misrepresenting its ability to prevent cervical cancer. These are fraud claims that are not commonly seen in product liability cases.
Risk of Autoimmune Diseases with Gardasil Vaccine
The FDA approved Gardasil; Merck manipulated the clinical trials to conceal the risk and increase the vaccine safety profile vaccine’s safety profile. Medical research revealed that it can induce autoimmune disorders in a certain percentage of patients, and scientific research associates it with multiple autoimmune disorders such as Orthostatic intolerance, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy, Multiple Sclerosis, and autoimmune hepatitis.
Premature Ovarian Failure
Premature Ovarian Failure is associated with early menopause, which is the most serious autoimmune disorder and is caused by the Gardasil HPV vaccine. It occurs when an abnormal autoimmune response targets the woman’s immune system and egg-producing tissues in her ovaries.
As a result, ovaries stop producing eggs, and then ovaries stop functioning before the age of 40, which leads to infertility. Premature Ovarian failure could occur because of multiple reasons like genetics, autoimmune disorders, chemotherapy, infections, and radiation therapy. Some studies also suggest the possible cause of POF with vaccines like HPV.
What is the Gardasil Lawsuit’s Connection with the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program?
The lawsuit was dismissed because the judge found that most of the plaintiffs’ claims come under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. This Act is a law that says vaccine manufacturers can not be sued for certain types of defects. However, negligence claims are allowed.
Merck & Co, who is a school teacher, filed this lawsuit and alleged that she has never been the same since taking the HPV vaccine at age 14. She thought because of the vaccine, POTS developed. The court identified her claim as a design defect claim and dismissed the claim. The second is it was barred under the Vaccine Act.
Here, the dismissal purpose was for the plaintiffs to get a chance to try again by filing a complaint stating the claims. Along with the defect design claim, they also needed to escape the warranty claim; therefore, Merck needed to provide specific risks associated with the Gardasil vaccine.
Merck filed an 18-page motion to dismiss the claim, which argues, among other things, damages or health issues from a vaccine-related injury associated with the administration of a vaccine to the drugmaker to provide direct warnings.
According to 2020 research, the association between premature ovarian failure and the Gardasil vaccine is based on a number of adverse vaccine event reports. These findings were confirmed in Drugs Real World Outcomes publication in March 2022.
However, there is a need to think about the mechanism that leads to the HPV vaccine causing premature ovarian failure. No one knows the exact reason, but the possible cause is the aluminum content that disturbs the eggs’ maturation process in the ovaries.
Furthermore, when the Gardasil vaccine was introduced in 2006, it showed a significant decrease in fertility among American women. In 2007, a National Center of Health Statistics report stated that these were reduced by more than 50%, and the overall fertility rate in the United States dropped below. The fertility rate was reduced between the ages of 15 and 44 by 2 % between 2017 and 2018.
Developments of July 2022 to December 2022
Lawyers of a large group filed a motion asking to create a new MDL Gardasil HPV Vaccine class action lawsuit. This lawsuit seeks the current and future HPV lawsuits alleging health consequences from the Gardasil vaccine. As a result of this motion, almost 34 pending cases were identified in 25 different federal districts.
Product liability cases are expected to increase over the next year. The plaintiffs claimed that the Gardasil HPV Vaccine caused them to develop autoimmune disorders, even neurological disorders.
In August 2022, the panel overseeing federal multidistrict litigation agreed to form a new class action MDL for handling all Gardasil HPV product liability in federal courts. It was argued that the MDL would create conflict with federal vaccine laws.
In October 2022, the judge in the newly formed Gardasil lawsuit first held an initial conference with lawyers. The major focus of this conference was the appointment of lawyers to deal with the plaintiffs’ leadership committee. This panel will make important decisions on behalf of plaintiffs in the MDL class action.
In December 2022, Judge Robert of the Western District of North Carolina held the first status conference on this lawsuit. He announced his selections for lawyers to serve on the plaintiff’s leadership committee.
Developments of 2023
After establishing a panel of lawyers in 2023, many meetings of lawyers were held. At the end of 2023, a status hearing in the Gardasil MDL provided the MDL judge with the latest updates on multiple issues.
These efforts were made to resolve the ongoing dispute over document production, which limits the scope of discovery and updates on the case. Well. At the end of 2023, almost 104 cases were filed in the MDL class action.
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Latest Updates 2024 of Gardasil Lawsuit
In June 2024, there were 184 cases in the Gardasil class action MDL, which increased daily. Therefore, on 12 June 2024, Lawyers decided to do test cases for bellwether trials. These will happen in California state court.
Each case features a plaintiff who allegedly left bedridden for life as a result of the Gardasil vaccine. Judge Kenneth D in North Carolina saw an increase in active cases from 194 to 197 from June 2024 to July 2024.
In a nutshell, the Gardasil lawyers have some work to get these cases. These concerns have been alleviated to some degree, and this case will be watched as the Gardasil side effects litigation progresses.