US Supreme Court Denies Lawsuits for Vaccine Injuries
by
Joseph C. Maya on Jun. 12, 2017
Accident & Injury Medical Malpractice Accident & Injury Products Liability
Summary: A blog post about a Supreme Court decision that protects vaccine manufacturers from some design defect claims.
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On Tuesday, February 22, 2011, in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that parents of children injured by routine vaccines cannot sue the vaccine manufacturer in court for alleged drug design defects.
In the case, Hannah Bruesewitz’s parents alleged that Hannah suffered from seizures and developmental delays due to a routine childhood vaccine. The Bruesewitz family first filed a claim using the no-fault compensation system set up by Congress in the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 (NCVIA). Under the NCVIA, the families of childhood victims of vaccine injuries can get compensation for those injuries by filing a claim with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. (To learn more about the vaccine compensation system set up by the NCVIA, see Nolo’s article Vaccine Injuries: The Federal Compensation Program.) When the claims court denied the Bruesewitz family’s claim, the family sued the vaccine manufacturer, Wyeth, in federal court alleging that the vaccine Hannah received was defectively designed.
In the 6-2 decision (Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg dissented), the Supreme Court ruled that the NCVIA compensation system preempted (precluded) parents from bringing design defect claims against vaccine manufacturers in court. To find otherwise, reasoned the Court, could potentially wipe out the vaccine industry.
The American Academy of Pediatrics applauded the decision as upholding the vital vaccine industry.
At Maya Murphy, P.C., our personal injury attorneys are dedicated to achieving the best results for individuals and their family members and loved ones whose daily lives have been disrupted by injury, whether caused by a motor vehicle or pedestrian accident, a slip and fall, medical malpractice, a defective product, or otherwise. Our attorneys are not afraid to aggressively pursue and litigate cases and have extensive experience litigating personal injury matters in both state and federal courts, and always with regard to the unique circumstances of our client and the injury he or she has sustained.
Source: Bruesewitz v. Wyeth
