Zostavax Lawsuits – Legal Cases Filed Due To Development Of Shingles

Zostavax Lawsuits refer to the legal claims filed against Merck & Co Inc. Pharmaceuticals by the consumers across the US. In these legal claims, consumers have alleged that the drug ‘Zostavax’ is manufactured defectively. Moreover, Merck didn’t even warn the consumers about all the potential & dangerous side effects of it. The complainants are even demanding compensation because of side effects, such as:

Shingles
Eye-Sight Loss
Hearing Loss
Paralysis
Critical Liver Failure

The Beginning Of Lawsuits

The first-ever lawsuit filed against Merck because of the side-effects of the Zostavax drug was in 2016. After that, thousands of consumers have reported severe side-effects and filed court cases against the company. Due to a large number of cases, many of these cases were consolidated in the federal court by a Federal Judicial Panel. This consolidation is called the Zostavax Lawsuit Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) and its proceedings are overseen by U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Most Common Zostavax Claims

All the claimants have stated a few main claims.

The drug has been defectively designed and is very dangerous for consumers.

Zostavax can cause serious side-effects & injuries, including death.

The drug manufacturing company Merck didn’t warn the consumers about the potential side-effects of this drug.

Also, the company didn’t tell the truth about how safe their vaccine is.

Design Defect Claims

Design defect claim in the Zostavax case refers to the various side effects and injuries caused by this drug. A design defect claim is generally a case filed against a drug for being dangerous for consumers if consumed. For a design defect claim to be true:

The claimant needs to provide proof of the health danger caused by it.
The side-effects were caused when the drug was taken for its proposed use.

About Mass Tort & MDL

A Mass Tort refers to a situation where many lawsuits or legal claims have been filed by many different claimants, stating similar injuries against the accused company or people. The Zostavax Lawsuits are surely a huge example of Mass Tort. In the case of a mass tort, i.e. when multiple cases are filed against one defendant, the cases are often consolidated into Multidistrict Litigation (MDL). MDL refers to a specific federal court assigned to oversee and manage these consolidated cases as one.

Who Can Be Part Of The MDL?

Any claimant who meets the below three conditions can be part of the MDL.

He took the drug after it was licensed by FDA i.e. after 2006.
The side-effects or injuries were experienced by him within a time of 3 weeks to a year.
If a licensed doctor or physician did diagnose the alleged Shingles.

The Current Scenario

The consolidated cases are expected to have their first trials between the fall of the year 2020 and the summer of the year 2021. Therefore, anyone who has suffered injuries or side-effects from Zostavax can file their claims against the Merck company.