There have been a number of Zostavax side effects associated with administration of the shingles vaccine. The vaccine contains a live virus, which some patients claim creates too great a risk of inducing a case of shingles.

In fact, administration of the Zostavax vaccine has led to shingle shot reaction for individuals within 0-6 months of receiving the vaccine. These and other adverse side effects have included:

• Shingles after vaccine
• Myelitis (spinal cord inflammation)
• Postherpetic neuralgia (pain after shingles blisters pass)
• Vision problems (eye infections; retinal damage; blindness)
• Hearing loss
• Autoimmune disorders (Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating, Meniere’s Disease, Polyneuropathy)
• Cardiovascular event
• Stroke
• Pneumonia
• Congestive heart failure
• Bell’s Palsy (facial paralysis)
• Vasculitis
• Serious neurological disease/disorder

Overview: Zostavax Side Effects

The Zostavax shingles vaccine is administered to people over the age of 50 to help prevent them from developing shingles. The vaccine is composed of a weakened chickenpox virus that helps the immune system fight off any signs of shingles development. However, there have been a number of reported side effects including nausea, muscle pain, joint pain, fever, and headaches.

Zostavax side effects have also included other more serious side effects as reported by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that include paralysis, brain damage, and death. As a result of these Zostavax side effects, the FDA was prompted to issue a black box warning — the strictest warning of its kind to be placed on prescription drugs or drug products. The FDA’s recent Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) documents Zostavax side effects such as rashes, myalgina, anaphylactic reactions, necrotizing retinitis, and gastrointestinal disorders.

As a result of Zostavax side effects, several vaccine lawsuits have been filed against the makers of the vaccine, Merck, accusing them of failing to disclose and advise the public of Zostavax side effects and other complications that may arise with the vaccines’ administration.

An early lawsuit filed against the company was one filed in a Philadelphia court by a woman in February 2017. She alleged that after being vaccinated with the Zostavax vaccine that she experienced adverse side effects that included dizziness, headaches, and blurred vision. Long-term side effects, she alleged, included elevated blood pressure, dizziness, headaches, and even vision problems in her right eye.

According to the lawsuit, “Despite this information and the potential correlation between being administered the Zostavax vaccine and developing an infection within a relatively short period of time, leading to the development of shingles or varicellazoster virus pneumonia, Merck failed to properly address and provide this information both to patients and the medical providers prescribing the vaccine.”

The lawsuit filed reported on a number of reports made to the FDA regarding Zostavax side effects and complications associated with the vaccine since its 2006 release. If you or a loved one have experienced Zostavax side effects following the administration of the Zostavax shingles vaccine, you may have a legal claim.