The U.S. District Judge presiding over all federal Gardasil lawsuits is requiring each claimant to complete a Plaintiff Fact Sheet, providing information about the injuries they experienced after receiving the HPV vaccine, which will help guide the selection of potential bellwether lawsuits that will serve as early test cases in the growing litigation.
While it has been marketed as safe and effective, a growing number of Gardasil vaccine injury claims have been filed against Merck in recent months, alleging that the drug maker failed to adequately disclose the risk of permanent and debilitating side effects, including postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), neurological problems, premature ovarian failure and other complications.
Each of the lawsuits involves similar allegations, claiming that Merck knew about risks associated with the HPV vaccine and withheld important safety information from families and the medical community while promoting and pushing the wider use of their vaccine among children nationwide.
On March 10, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad issued an order, calling for plaintiffs to complete a four-part form in each case. Every plaintiff, present and future, will be required to complete the fact sheets, which will include basic information about their Gardasil vaccine injury claim, relevant medical and pharmacy records, records pertaining to their vaccination and other documents with relevant details.
After Appeals Loss, Johnson & Johnson Will Take Texas Two-Step Case to the U.S. Supreme Court
Johnson & Johnson will do the two-step all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. After an unsuccessful bid to get its appeal reheard in the Third Circuit Court on Wednesday, the company said it will make one last appeal to the Supreme Court to legitimize its strategy to funnel more than 38,000 talc lawsuits into a company it created with the intent to declare it bankrupt.
J&J faces claims that its talcum products — including its iconic baby powder — cause cancer. After assigning the lawsuits to a subsidiary called LTL Management and filing for bankruptcy protection, J&J earmarked corporate funds for LTL to resolve the claims en masse.
The legal ploy, known as the Texas two-step, has been used by companies to resolve asbestos lawsuits. J&J set up LTL in Texas in 2021 and moved it to North Carolina before making its bankruptcy claim. The tactic has frozen the lawsuits for 17 months.
In 2022, J&J made a $2 billion offer to resolve the cases, but a company lawyer at the time said the drugmaker could raise its offer.
Drug-Resistant Candida Auris Fungus Is Spreading at an ‘Alarming Rate’ in the U.S., CDC Says
Compared to the deadly fungal outbreak of mutated Cordyceps in “The Last of Us,” the current fungal threat in the U.S. may seem relatively benign. But according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we also have a fungus spreading through the country at an “alarming rate.”
The fungus, Candida auris, won’t turn you into a zombie or a “clicker” like in the popular TV show. In fact, for most healthy people, a brush with Candida won’t end in illness. But C. auris poses a growing threat to sick people in healthcare facilities, and according to the latest update from the CDC, it appears to be evolving new levels of drug resistance as it spreads across the U.S.
A growing portion of C. auris infections have not responded to treatment with the top-recommended antifungal, a medicine called echinocandins. According to the CDC, the number of drug-resistant C. auris cases recorded in the U.S. tripled from 2020 to 2021.
The CDC’s findings suggest that the fungus thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading throughout critical care settings as hospitals were overwhelmed by COVID cases.
Rand Paul: ‘I Wouldn’t Vaccinate My Children’
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in a Thursday interview on The Hill’s Rising said he wouldn’t vaccinate his own children for COVID-19 out of concerns about the risk of heart inflammation.
Paul, a vocal critic of pandemic policies who frequently battled with former White House adviser Anthony Fauci during the Trump and Biden administrations, said the risk of myocarditis — heart inflammation — is greater than the manufacturers of vaccines have said. He also argued the vaccine carries an unnecessary risk for young people.
“I, frankly, wouldn’t vaccinate my children for COVID,” he said. “I think the risks of the vaccine are greater than the risks of the disease. The risks of the disease are almost non-existent.”
Paul’s remarks to Rising follow a hearing on Wednesday where he accused Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel of lying to the public about the risk of myocarditis to young men.
