A husband and wife duo recently filed a lawsuit against Merck & Co., alleging that the husband sustained shingles vaccine injuries after being injected with the Zostavax vaccine.

Plaintiff Leroy S. says he was administered the Zostavax vaccine in March 2013 for the prevention of shingles. In January 2017, Leroy says he experienced an outbreak of shingles including chronic pain, rash, and lesions in and on various parts of his body.

He claims that his shingles vaccine injuries were a direct result of his inoculation with the Zostavax vaccine. His wife, Barbara S., also brings claims in the lawsuit alleging they she experienced loss of consortium as a result of Leroy’s shingles vaccine injuries.

Shingles is a painful condition thought to be caused by a reactivation of the varicella zoster virus, the virus which causes chicken pox. It is thought that the varicella zoster virus can lay dormant in the nervous system for years but can be reactivated by a variety of factors including disease, stress, aging, and immune modulation by a vaccine.

The condition can cause extreme pain and severe rash in addition to several complications. Complications of the shingle virus include postherpetic neuralgia (long term pain), vision loss, skin infections, and neurological problems.

To prevent shingles and its complications, many adults opt to receive the shingles vaccine. Zostavax is one of the shingles vaccines available, but it may be associated with shingles vaccine injuries as experienced by Leroy.

Zostavax shingles vaccine injuries allegedly stem from the live virus contained in the vaccination. The virulence of the varicella zoster virus contained in Zostavax is “attenuated”, or weakened, so that it will not cause shingles but will instead cause an immune reaction to inoculate the patients. However, Leroy claims that the live virus is under-attenuated which causes a variety of shingles vaccine injuries.

Shingle vaccine injuries reported with Zostavax are often those similar to shingles injuries including postherpetic neuralgia, scarring, bacterial superinfection, allodynia, cranial and motor neuron palsies, pneumonia, encephalitis, visual impairment, hearing loss, and death.

“It follows that given the increased risk of viral infection due to vaccination, such complications are also possible complications of Zostavax,” the Zostavax lawsuit states. “It also follows that post vaccination viral infection can cause significant issues in the nervous system due to the replication of the latent virus in the nervous system.”

The Zostavax lawsuit claims that Merck knew or should have known about the risk for shingles vaccine injuries but failed to warn their consumers and the public about the risks. There allegedly exists scientific evidence supporting the link between Zostavax and shingles vaccine injuries. There have also allegedly been countless adverse reaction reports submitted to the company as well as the FDA.

Leroy accuses Merck of negligence, design defect, failure to warn, breach of warranties, unjust enrichment, and loss of consortium. The shingles vaccine injuries lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

The Shingles Vaccine Injuries Lawsuit is Case No. 3:18-cv-14176-PGS-TJB in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.