Shingle vaccination side effects can allegedly include the development of shingles itself, according to a recent Zostavax lawsuit filed by a Tennessee woman.

Plaintiff Jo Ann S. says she was given the Zostavax shingles vaccine in 2016 for the prevention of shingles. However, later that year, she says she was treated for shingles and shingle vaccination side effects.

Jo Ann argues that the Zostavax vaccine is defective because it causes shingle vaccination side effects rendering the inoculation useless.

Zostavax is a shingles vaccine recommended to be administered to patients above the age of 50. Shingles, thought to be caused by a reactivation of the dormant chicken pox virus, can be a painful, debilitating condition which is why many individuals choose to be vaccinated rather than risk suffering though the painful rash.

The Zostavax vaccine contains a live, weakened version of the shingles virus. The use of live viruses is common in vaccinations, as it elicits a response from the immune system which helps develop an immunity to shingles. However, the live virus contained in Zostavax is insufficiently weakened, according to Jo Ann, and can cause serious shingle vaccination side effects.

Merck has never attempted to claim that their vaccine is free of side effects. The company warns of a variety of shingle vaccination side effects with Zostavax, including headaches, local reaction to shingles injection, fever, joint pain, muscle pain, nausea, and chickenpox or shingles after the vaccine.

However, the vaccine may be associated with other, more serious side effects, which some patients say the manufacturer has allegedly concealed. Possible shingle vaccination side effects which Merk allegedly failed to warn patients about include: hearing loss, necrotizing retinitis (an eye condition), neurological disorders, vision loss, blindness, paralysis, and death.

After receiving reports of blindness, paralysis, brain damage, and death, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued two new black box warnings to be added to Zostavax labeling. In 2016, the labels were once again expanded to include warnings regarding vision damage due to inflammation of the eye.

To make things worse, plaintiffs say Zostavax is allegedly far less effective than advertised, in addition to potentially causing shingle vaccine side effects. The Zostavax lawsuit claims that Merck portrayed their vaccine as 51 percent effective indefinitely.

However, the vaccine is allegedly only 51 percent effective upon perfect use at age 60 and the efficacy of the vaccine wanes over time. According to the Zostavax lawsuit, this renders the vaccine completely ineffective after only four years. This alleged reality is far from the representations made by Merck, the plaintiff claims.

The Zostavax lawsuit claims that Merck was aware of the true nature of their vaccine long before the FDA took action but chose not to warn consumers.

“Defendants have known for over a decade that the Zostavax vaccine is far less effective than publicly advertised and represented to government agencies,” the Zostavax lawsuit claims. “Defendants failed to remedy false representations made about Zostavax and, instead, continued to intentionally omit and conceal material information from the public.”

The Zostavax Lawsuit is Case No. 3:18-cv-15872 in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Middlesex County.