A South Carolina man recently filed a lawsuit against Merck & Co., alleging he suffered from significant Zostavax eye damage because of the company’s popular shingles vaccine.

The plaintiff, Marco T., received the Zostavax vaccine in February 2007 in order to prevent singles, its intended purpose. However, he claims that it wasn’t long after he was vaccinated that he suffered from major Zostavax eye damage.

Indeed, at first it was vision loss, but within one month of the vaccination, Marco says he had completely lost vision in his left eye. Marco alleges his physician found that the vision loss was related to the Zostavax vaccination.

In response, Marco turned to litigation against Zostavax’s manufacturer, Merck & Co. His lawsuit alleges that the Zostavax eye damage he suffered is both severe and permanent in nature, leading to pain and suffering, mental anguish, and emotional distress, as well as significant and continuing medical expenses and other financial damage as a result of the Zostavax eye damage.

Marco filed his Zostavax eye damage lawsuit on multiple counts, including negligence, design and manufacturing defect, failure to warn, breach of express and implied warranties, fraud, and several others. The lawsuit was filed on April 30, 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Marco is not the only patient to come forward with reports of major Zostavax eye damage after use of the popular shingles vaccine. If you or someone you love have suffered Zostavax eye damage or other major side effects, you may be able to file a lawsuit.

Basics of Zostovax

Zostavax was first introduced to the market in May 2006 with its approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Zostavax vaccine is manufactured by Merck & Co. and is approved to prevent shingles (herpes zoster) in patients 60 and up. Essentially, Zostavax is a stronger version of Merck’s chickenpox vaccine, Varivax.

Unfortunately, the use of the Zostavax vaccine has been associated with a serious and even dangerous complication: the development of the very vaccine it is meant to prevent.

Zostavax Eye Damage

Any medication will come with certain side effects, and Zostavax is no exception. Zostavax’s information sheet includes warnings of side effects like headaches, fever, joint pain and nausea. The key here is that there is a warning of these side effects.

Patients have also reported major side effects after use of Zostavax that they say were not initially included in the warnings, including blindness, paralysis, brain damage and death. Since then, the FDA has updated the drug’s warnings to include Zostavax eye damage from inflammation.

Side effects of Zostavax usually appear within six months after the vaccine is administered, though long-term injuries like neurological damage are also possible.

Filing a Zostavax Eye Damage Lawsuit

If you or someone you love has suffered from side effects of the Zostavax vaccine, you may be able to file a shingles vaccine lawsuit. Filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by these Zostavax eye damage, nor can it bring a loved one back to life, but it can help to alleviate the financial burden caused by medical expenses and lost wages.

The Zostavax Eye Damage Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-01806-MMB, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.