Power Alley: The Bellwether Cases Against Gardasil® Have All Failed; There Will Likely Be No New LA Trial Against Merck... But Beware RFK, Jr.!

In an era not so completely ruled by odd-ball cult(s) of personality, the summary judment Merck just won would likely be the end of the line for all the putative Gardasil^® vaccine claimants in the US.

But do recall that the current Sec'y. of Health and Human Services personally recruited some of these Gardasil plaintiffs for his law firm (and was to receive large contingent fee payments). Well, a large bolus of these claims were effectively dismissed yesterday, in North Carolina's federal courts for the Western District, when the able judge ruled the plaintiffs injuries didn't seem to be caused by the vaccine. Excellent for Rahway -- the maker of Gardasil.

But sadly, who knows what the CURRENT Secy. of HHS might dream up (to ease his way around a final federal court order)? The prior one (see below pull quote) believed there was no cause-effect link between the plaintiffs' maladies and Merck's Gardasil.

In any event, this is all sure to be good (or at least, better) news for Merck -- but we will have to wait a bit to see whether RFK, Jr. honors (or welshes on) his pledge / promise to the Senate that (if confirmed) he'd stay out of this, in his role at HHS:

. . .The Bellwether Plaintiffs (vaccinated at various dates from 2012 to January 2021) allege that Gardasil caused them to develop POTS or POI. They further allege that Merck should have added a POTS warning to Gardasil’s FDA regulated labeling in 2011 and a POI warning in 2013.

Merck responds that there is no evidence that Gardasil causes either POTS or POI, and the FDA has approved numerous Gardasil labels without any such warnings (as well as promoted the safety and efficacy of HPV vaccines, including with respect to POTS). As discussed in more detail below, all Parties have made lengthy scientific submissions which they contend support or argue against the need for Plaintiffs’ requested warnings. Gardasil is a childhood vaccine covered by the Vaccine Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa-1, et seq.

As explained by the Supreme Court in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth LLC, 562 U.S. 223, 228–30 (2011), Congress enacted the Vaccine Act to “[t]o stabilize the vaccine market and facilitate compensation” to putative plaintiffs by establishing a no-fault compensation program “designed to work faster and with greater ease than the civil tort system.” Shalala v. Whitecotton, 514 U.S. 268, 269 (1995). The program requires a person who claims to have been injured by a vaccine, or their legal guardian, to file a petition for compensation against the Secretary of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) in the United States Court of Federal Claims prior to filing a civil action in State or Federal court. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa–11, 12. Each of the Bellwether Plaintiffs filed claims in the Vaccine Court.

In its oppositions, HHS (which oversees both the FDA and CDC) argued against Plaintiffs’ claimed association between HPV vaccination and POTS or POI. . . .

Now you know. We await news out of USDC Judge Furman's court in Manhattan -- on whether the First Amendment still means what it says. We expect that it does, and the green card holder will be released shortly. And. . . SPHERE^x is conducting solar science now, overhead. So things are literally. . . looking up. Grin.

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