Merck & Co., Inc., makers of the Zostavax vaccine, are facing a recent shingle vaccination side effects lawsuit filed by a Florida resident who says that despite receiving the vaccine he still contracted the virus.

Plaintiff Ronald B. filed his lawsuit in Pennsylvania federal court, joining thousands of others in an increasing multidistrict litigation (MDL) filed against Merck.

Ronald says that on Dec. 26, 2016, he was inoculated with the Zostavax vaccine to prevent the development of shingles (herpes zoster).

However, soon after receiving the vaccine, he says that he began to suffer from several severe side effects. Ronald says he started feeling an intense amount of fatigue, developed headaches, and felt a sensation of “his nerve endings ‘shooting off’ throughout his whole body.”

Other reported side effects included “burning in his arm, and a rash, which started on his right hip and traveled all over his body.” He says he was diagnosed with shingles on May 15, 2017 in Tampa, Fla.

In addition to physical illnesses he suffered due to his diagnosis with shingles, he says that he has also experienced mental and emotional distress due to the seriousness and physical limitations he experienced with his condition.

The shingle vaccination side effects lawsuit was filed on multiple counts including negligence, design and manufacturing defect, failure to warn, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, and punitive damages, among others.

Overview: Shingle Vaccination Side Effects Lawsuit

Several lawsuits have been filed against Merck over allegations that not only does the Zostavax vaccination cause severe side effects such as brain damage, liver failure, paralysis, and blindness, but that it may also cause the one thing that it’s supposed to prevent: shingles.

Zostavax’s manufacturer Merck, as well as its owner Bayer, are now facing lawsuits accusing the companies of failing to warn consumers about potential adverse side effects and complications of the shingles vaccine.

The vaccine is usually given to patients that are over the age of 50 because it is around this age that the virus is more common. Shingles caused by a chickenpox virus that stays dormant in the body’s nervous system for years. What characterizes the virus is typically a band of painful blisters on one side of the torso. However, reports warn that at best the vaccine only works in 50 percent of patients and even so, could potentially only last a mere six years.

Lawsuits claim that while Merck knew of the potential for the Zostavax virus to cause shingles, it failed to warn patients and list this as a potential side effect until December 2014. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first approved Zostavax in 2006.

According to the FDA, potential Zostavax side effects may include the following:

• Shingles
• Rash
• Hives
• Nausea
• Joint pain
• Muscle pain
• Chickenpox
• Eye disorders

Ronald’s Shingles Vaccination Side Effects Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-05491-HB, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The Shingles MDL is in re: Zostavax (Zoster Vaccine Live) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2848, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.