Merck forced to turn over all of its Gardasil adverse event databases.
U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr, recently ordered Merck to turn over all of its Gardasil adverse events databases to plaintiffs suing the pharmaceutical company for injuries allegedly caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
Regular readers of my blog will know I've been covering the Gardasil litigation for quite a while now (Links at the foot of this post)
The Gardasil adverse events databases have been held under lock and key by Merck and up until Conrad Jr's order they had refused to make the entire Merck Adverse Event Reporting and Review System (MARRS) databases available to the plaintiffs’ attorneys.
In passing down his order, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr, said, “Plaintiffs’ and their experts should have the same opportunity as Merck to review and analyze the entirety of the data.”
Common sense, plus a strong legal argument from plaintiffs' attorneys Wisner Baum seems to have seen the light of day.
Wisner Baum have have filed dozens lawsuits on behalf of young people injured by Gardasil, alleging Merck knowingly and fraudulently concealed the vaccine’s risks. There are also 80 pending in the federal court system and that number is expected to increase. Senior Partner, Michael Baum said, “Access to this full database of adverse event reports should allow experts to better analyze the full extent of post-Gardasil autoimmune symptom clusters, and demonstrate there is a “statistically significant causal connection between Gardasil and autoimmune conditions.”
Source: Brenda Baletti Ph.D
U.S. District Judges often come under heavy criticism for, seemingly, siding with large corporate companies such as Merck. Robert J. Conrad, Jr's order and subsequent reasoning for placing such an order has to be applauded here.
Not only should Plaintiffs’ and their experts have access to adverse reactions, the general public should too. Hopefully this data will be made public. It's important in light of recent news that a bill has been introduced in Sacramento to require students entering the 8th grade to have the HPV vaccine. Such a bill, if granted without first seeing MARRS databases, can potentially put patients at risk, patients such as those listed in the links below.
Bob Fiddaman
"I don’t want this pain for other kids." ~ Victoria Trevisan, Gardasil Victim
Merck & Co Face Uphill Battle as Gardasil Lawsuits Consolidated
Parents of 13-year-old Boy File Wrongful Death Lawsuit against Vaccine Manufacturers, Merck
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