A man from Tennessee alleges he suffered an adverse shingles vaccine reaction soon after receiving the Zostavax shot and claims Merck & Co. failed to warn him against the full scope of potential complications.

Merck has reportedly faced injury reports from patients alleging they experienced serious vaccine reactions from the Zostavax shot. Some patients claim that the vaccine strains may have been too potent for patients.

This was allegedly the case for Bernie T., who says he developed permanent injuries from an adverse shingles vaccine reaction. Bernie alleges he received the Zostavax vaccine on Sept. 8, 2017 for shingles prevention.

The Zostavax vaccine was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in May 2006 to be a prevention measure against shingles. Shingles is thought to be caused by a dormant form of chickenpox, which means that adults who have previously had chickenpox are most likely to get shingles.

The varicella zoster virus (VZV) can remain dormant in the nervous system for years, and it can be activated by different factors like stress, aging, or disease.

The Centers for Disease Control recommends the Zostavax be given patients over the age of 60, with statistics showing that the vaccine can reduce the risk of shingles by 51 percent.

With this in mind, Bernie alleges he had no reason to believe he was at risk for any serious side effects or adverse shingles vaccine reaction.

However not long after he received the shot, Bernie says he developed a persistent strain of herpes zoster and was diagnosed with shingles. Bernie alleges the vaccine failed to prevent shingles He alleges he suffered permanent and incurable injuries from the vaccine.

Overview of Zostavax Complications

The Zostavax shot is meant to help prepare the immune system against shingles development but does come with a list of side effects.

According to the patient information sheet provided by Merck, patients can suffer headaches, localized vaccine reaction, fever, joint pain, muscle pain, nausea, and chickenpox or shingles occurrence.

However, there have been more serious Zostavax side effects reported to the FDA including instances of blindness, paralysis, brain damage, and even death. These complications reportedly spurred the FDA to add two black box warnings to the drug’s warning label. The Zostavax warning later was recently expanded to include vision damage caused by eye inflammation in 2016.

However, there have been other serious complications reported to the FDA’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) including gastrointestinal disorders, rashes, arthralgia, myalgia, anaphylactic reactions, and necrotizing retinitis.

Tens of thousands of Zostavax injury reports have been submitted to the FDA’s VAERS including 128 vaccine related deaths, 850 hospitalizations, and 660 patients who allegedly developed disabilities.

Even though these complications can be devastating to patients, Merck allegedly failed to disclose this information to Bernie and his physician. At all times relevant, Bernie says he relied on the product information provided by Merck and had no reason to believe he was at risk for serious vaccine reactions. (Lawsuit documents, pgs. 16-20)

Bernie is seeking a multitude of damages in his Zostavax lawsuit, including counts of negligence and failure to warn.

This Zostavax Lawsuit is Case No. 2:19-cv-00297-HB, in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Pennsylvania.