Zostavax Lawsuit

What is Zostavax?

Zostavax is one of only two FDA approved shingles vaccines available in the United States. Manufactured by Merck, Zostavax is designed to lessen the risk of developing the herpes zoster virus, commonly known as shingles, in people over the age of 50. Zostavax only requires one shot while the new Shingrix vaccine requires two.

Zostavax is made with a small amount of weakened but live varicella-zoster virus (chickenpox virus). Children and people who have a weakened immune system are typically not able to receive this type of vaccine, nor can people who have not previously had chickenpox.

In an attempt to prevent shingles, some patients may have unintentionally contracted the virus from their shingles vaccination.

Zostavax, may cause serious injuries including shingles, blindness, and even death. Injured patients are now filing lawsuits against Zostavax’s manufacturer Merck for failing to warn about the potential side effects.

Who is affected and why

Zostavax is a shingles vaccine for patients 50 years and older, an age when the virus is more common. It’s caused by dormant chickenpox viruses which can lay in the body’s nervous system for years, eventually creating shingles. The virus is typically characterized by a painful band of blisters on one side of the torso.

Zostavax uses a weakened form of the herpes zoster virus in order to activate the immune system. After fighting the weakened version of the virus, the body builds immunity. At best, the vaccine only works in 50 percent of patients, and even then it will only last for about six years.

For patients who are immunocompromised, their bodies may not be able to fight off the small dose of the virus. This can cause a host of injuries, including chickenpox and shingles itself.

Lawsuits claim that even though Merck knew Zostavax could cause shingles, it didn’t list this as a side effect until December 2014, years after the vaccine was approved by the FDA in 2006.