A Texas man and his wife have filed a Zostavax lawsuit against Merck & Co. Inc. and Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. (Merck), claiming that he experienced a severe shingles shot reaction after an injection of the vaccine Zostavax, leaving him with severe and incurable injuries including idiopathic facial paralysis, also known as Bell’s Palsy.

Plaintiffs Rogelio D. and Diana D. allege that within days after Rogelio’s exposure to the vaccination on or about May 10, 2017, he began to suffer Zostavax side effects. Within the first day, he allegedly began to experience ear pain on the right side. This pain lasted for three days, the couple claims.

At that point, the lawsuit alleges that Rogelio experienced sudden and severe facial droop on the right side, as well as eye drainage. The couple says that due to these injuries, he was hospitalized and was then diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy.

Reported Symptoms of Shingles Shot Reaction

Possible reactions to the shingles shot Zostavax cited by Merck include redness, soreness, itching, or a rash at the site of injection, as well as headache, nausea, fever, joint pain, muscle pain, and development of shingles or chickenpox.

The FDA has also received reports of more serious side effects. These side effects include vision loss or blindness, brain damage, paralysis, and death. These reports led the FDA to issue black box warnings about shingles shot reaction side effects for Zostavax’s label.

What is Zostavax?

Zostavax is a vaccine developed, manufactured, and sold by Merck for the purposes of shingles prevention in people over the age of 60. Shingles is a painful viral infection that causes a rash of blisters to appear on the body, often in a stripe across the torso. It is related to chickenpox, and may be a reaction caused by a dormant chickenpox virus.

Shingles and chickenpox are both caused by the varicella zoster virus (VZV), which remains dormant in the body for years after the initial infection. However, the dormant virus can be reactivated by factors such as stress, disease, or vaccine-related immune modulation.

Zostavax was approved by the FDA in May 2006 as a single dose shingles vaccination for individuals 60 and over. The vaccine contains live VZV that has been attenuated, meaning that the strength of the virus has been reduced.

Vaccines containing live viruses are meant to elicit a reaction from the immune system without actually infecting patients with the virus. However, with live virus vaccines, there is a risk that the virus has not been weakened enough. This can result in the patient developing the condition that the vaccine was meant to prevent.

Zostavax Lawsuits

Since February 2017, multiple lawsuits have been filed against Merck and Zostavax, citing injuries cause by a shingles shot reaction. In this Zostavax lawsuit, Rogelio and Diana are suing for compensatory damages for pain and suffering, medical expenses, lost wages, pre- and post-judgement interest, costs of suit and attorneys’ fees, and punitive damages. This case also indicates a demand for a trial by jury.

The Zostavax Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-04892-HB in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.