Plaintiffs in numerous Zostavax lawsuits have asked the courts to consolidate their complaints into a multicounty litigation against Merck.

Two law firms representing hundreds of plaintiffs in Zostavax lawsuits have asked the New Jersey Supreme Court to consolidate their complaints into a multicounty litigation against Merck & Co. The collective 37 mass tort Zostavax lawsuits argue that the company’s shingles vaccine can cause maladies such as brain swelling and eye disorders.

“As a result of the high degree of commonality of injuries and damages exhibited by the plaintiffs, the coordinated discovery would be advantageous and would promote convenience and fairness to all parties to these cases,” said the plaintiffs’ attorney, who represents 285 different individuals in Zostavax lawsuits, according to Law360. “I am hopeful that the New Jersey consolidation will work hand-in-hand with the federal MDL. We will work diligently to coordinate our actions to better serve our largely elderly clients.”

The firms propose to centralize the Zostavax lawsuits in Middlesex Country because Bergen and Atlantic counties are already handling a collective 13 other mass torts. Additionally, two out of the seven mass torts currently in Middlesex is “on the verge of closing”.

Although the issues presented in the Zostavax lawsuits are nearly identical in nature, the rulings on the cases have been inconsistent. The firms proposed the cases go before Superior Court Judge James Hyland, who is reportedly familiar with the company.

“We anticipate and presume that inconsistent rulings on substantively identical issues of law and/or fact will continue to occur in the future. Thus, MCL designation will be beneficial to preserve consistency throughout these similar cases, and will be fair and convenient for all parties and the court,” stated an additional plaintiffs’ attorney to Law360.

The Zostavax shingles vaccine is an immunization used for the prevention of shingles in people over the age of 50. The vaccine contains a weakened chickenpox virus and helps the immune system protect against the development of shingles, which is thought to be caused by a reaction to the dormant chickenpox virus.

The Zostavax lawsuits argue that the shingles vaccine contains a live virus that can cause serious damage to the body when injected. The live virus allegedly causes nerve-damaging inflammation throughout the body. The Zostavax lawsuits claim that the inflammation can lead to facial paralysis, encephalitis, meningitis, loss of dexterity, shingles-related injuries, post-herpetic neuralgia, retinol necrosis, keratitis, and acute myelitis.

Since the vaccine’s approval in 2006, there have allegedly been over 1,000 submissions of serious adverse events reports made to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting Systems. Of the 1,111 submissions made before Sept. 2015, 36 of the reports included deaths from adverse reactions. In response to the reports, the drug’s warnings were expanded by the FDA in 2016 to include potential vision damage caused by inflammation of the eye.

Plaintiffs in the Zostavax lawsuits claim that they were not sufficiently warned by the manufacturers of the risks associated with the vaccine. The Zostavax lawsuits aim to hold Merck accountable for not warning consumers and physicians of all of the risks.