Vaccine Act Pre-empts State Tort Claims
A Philadelphia Common Pleas judge has ruled that the Vaccine Act, a federal law that governs the liability of pharmaceutical companies for drug vaccines, pre-empts state law tort claims that a vaccine design was defective or that there was a failure to warn the patient of risks associated with the vaccine.
In Wright v. Aventis Pasteur, Jared Wright, an eleven year-old boy with autism, was administered vaccines during his infancy that contained "thimerosal," a mercury-based preservative that Wright's parents contend was the cause of Wright's autism.
Wright argued that Aventis Pasteur Inc., Merck & Co. Inc., and Wyeth were negligent because they failed to warn the medical community about the potential hazards of mercury in the vaccines, and also argued that the defendants failed to use ordinary cases in designing the vaccines because of the risks toxic mercury poses to infants and children.
Judge Arnold L. New, however, ruled that the Vaccine Act pre-empts Wright's state law tort claims. Specifically, Judge New discussed Congress' intent to avoid instability in the vaccine market that would result from state-law tort liability for vaccine injuries. Judge New also cited Congress's actions in creating the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program as evidence that Congress intended the Vaccine Act to pre-empt state law tort claims.
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