Zostavax Litigation

If you or a loved one suffered harmful effects following a Zostavax vaccination - whether it was contracting shingles or other serious side effects - contact the Cambridge personal injury attorneys at Altman & Altman LLP today to get started on a claim.

Vaccinations have enabled humanity to overcome some of the deadliest diseases in history, such as smallpox and polio, however not every vaccination is identical. Vaccinations, like any other medicine, are crafted by pharmaceutical companies, which means the constant factor of human error is in play and could potentially cause harmful results via an otherwise safe vaccine.

Zostavax is a vaccination - which utilizes a weakened form of the chickenpox virus - approved by the Food and Drug Administration for preventing the contraction of shingles. Those who have gone through chickenpox when they were younger may or may not know that the same virus - the varicella-zoster virus - that causes chickenpox also causes shingles. The virus is called herpes zoster when it specifically causes shingles.

While chickenpox, when contracted by children, is a very mild and short-lived disease that usually clears up without medical intervention within a few days, shingles can cause much more severe discomfort through painful rashes that cause nerve stimulations that last for as long as a month in some cases, and can reoccur without seemingly any particular reason. Shingles most often occurs in people over the age of 50.

Anybody who has contracted chickenpox at some point in their life may develop shingles. The Center for Disease Control reports that one in three people will develop shingles at some point in their lives, however modern science cannot yet explain what causes the dormant chickenpox virus to become active and cause shingles later in life, or why some people develop it while others do not.

As shingles can cause severe symptoms that inhibit your ability to live comfortably, the development of a successful vaccine was a significant breakthrough that millions have utilized to prevent themselves from contracting the disease. Zostavax remains a popular vaccination against shingles for those aged 50 and older today, although a brand new shingles vaccine was approved by the FDA in 2017 as well.

There are risks associated with every medical procedure or medicine, however some of these risks should be minimized through careful attention of the product's producer. Merck & Co. Inc. produces the Zostavax vaccine, and warns of the possibility of some minor symptoms, including redness, pain, itching, swelling, hard lumps, warmth or bruising at the injection site, in addition to fevers, hives, muscle and joint pain, nausea, rashes and partial facial paralysis.

Even more severe side effects, not listed by Merck, include reports of brain damage, blindness, paralysis and even deaths. The FDA required Zostavax to issue updated warnings on its vaccines in 2016, and the company has faced multiple class action lawsuits regarding side effects experienced by users since 2017. Such legal action has prompted the company to include the possible contraction of shingles and chickenpox as a possible side effects to the vaccination, which they did not always admit was possible.

If you or a loved one have experienced severe symptoms not outlined by the manufacturer in the days or weeks following receiving the Zostavax vaccine, you may be entitled to file an individual or class action lawsuit seeking financial compensation for your pain and suffering, which can be used to pay for medical expenses or other costs associated with your experience.

The personal injury attorneys at Altman & Altman LLP have over 50 years of experience litigating against pharmaceutical companies and earning financial compensation for our clients in Cambridge, Boston and throughout Massachusetts. We will give you the best possible chance to achieve a positive result in the courtroom, or earn you a sizable settlement with the manufacturer.

Contact us online or call for a free consultation to go over the details of your case today at 617-492-3000 or toll-free at 800-481-6199. We are available 24/7.