Consumers who had an adverse reaction to shingles injection may be eligible for compensation recovered by a Zostavax lawsuit.

Consumer complaints about an adverse reaction to shingles injection have prompted several lawsuits to be filed against Merck, the Zostavax shingles vaccine manufacturers. These lawsuits claim that Merck failed to warn of the potential for a serious adverse reaction to shingles injection that may occur with their drug.

Zostavax is a vaccination intended to prevent the occurrence of shingles in patients 60 years or older. Shingles is thought to be caused be a reactivation of the chicken pox virus in the central nervous system. Like many other vaccines, Zostavax uses a live, weakened version of the virus to inoculate the immune system. However, new allegations claim that the live virus is not sufficiently weakened and can cause serious side effects.

Numerous side effects have been reported as a reaction to shingles injection. Many individuals who receive the vaccine say they ended up developing shingles — the condition the vaccine is intended to prevent. However, other more serious reactions have been reported within one year of injection including immune disorders, facial paralysis, vision problems, problems with the nervous system, congestive heart failure, encephalitis, stroke, and death.

The first Zostavax lawsuits have been filed in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Plaintiff Norman S. filed a lawsuit last August in New Jersey after allegedly experiencing a dramatic reaction to a shingles injection. Less than five months after his injection, Norman says he woke up unable to walk. He was diagnosed with acute transverse myelitis, an inflammation of portion of the spine. Norman claims that this was a direct reaction to his shingle injection.

Currently, the majority of lawsuits against Merck have been filed in Pennsylvania. Law experts have said that if more lawsuits are filed, a federal judge may consolidate them into multidistrict litigation. Although this process is not as streamlined as a class action lawsuit, it allows for multitudes of cases to be tried by the same court in a quicker process.

Zostavax is not the first vaccine to land Merck in legal trouble. In 2010, former Merck employees filed a class action whistleblower lawsuit alleging that the pharmaceutical company faked tests and lied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about the effectiveness of the vaccine.

“The ultimate victims here are the millions of children who every year are being injected with a mumps vaccine that is not providing them with an adequate level of protection against mumps,” the class action stated.

A similar lawsuit was filed in 2012 by a clinic and two physicians. “Merck has known for a decade that its mumps vaccine is ‘far less effective’ than it tells the government,” the lawsuit argued. “[Merck] falsified test results and sold millions of doses.”

If you or a loved one experienced an adverse reaction to shingles injection within one year of receiving the vaccine, you may be eligible for a Zostavax lawsuit. Each state has different statues of limitations, so it is important to contact a qualified attorney as soon as possible.