Lawsuits Against Vaccine Makers Are Curbed by Supreme Court in Wyeth C

1. 73

   Stacie Lposted 14 years ago

   The U.S. Supreme Court reinforced the shield that protects the pharmaceutical industry from lawsuits over vaccines, ruling against two parents who blame Pfizer Inc.’s Wyeth unit for their daughter’s seizure disorder.
   
   The ruling is a victory for the four companies that supply vaccines for the U.S. market -- Wyeth, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Merck & Co. and Sanofi-Aventis SA. A ruling letting the parents sue Wyeth might have allowed suits by thousands of families that say vaccines caused autism in their children. Since 1988, the no-fault process has led to almost $2 billion in compensation to more than 2,500 families.
   
   looks like Big Pharma-1, Consumers-0
   
   
   http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-2 … -case.html

   replyreport
   1. 71

      Quilligrapherposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Stacie.  It looks like Big Pharma came out on top in that battle.
      In our society, Big Pharma has become the industry we all love to hate. But I try to keep in mind pharmaceutical companies are due a huge dose of gratitude for what they have been able to accomplish for mankind. I still remember the days when a diagnosis of cancer was a knell of imminent death.  I also remember receiving my polio shot in school during the polio epidemic of the late 1940s. I submit the following facts as a testimonial to man’s struggle to conquer disease:
      The first major outbreak of polio in the United States occurred with 132 cases reported in Vermont in 1894. The virus continued to spread unchecked and eventually exploded during the four years following WWII. The average number of new cases each year grew to more than 20,000. The worst year, 1952, saw 58,000 new cases in the USA with another 35,000 cases the following year.  The successful trials of the Salk vaccine led to a nationwide vaccination program in 1955. By 1957, the data shows only about 5600 cases of polio in the United States. Seven years later, in 1964, the reported cases of polio drops to only 121 nationally.  Finally, the last indigenous transmission of wild poliovirus occurred in 1979. That was the year man and vaccine conquered polio.
      
      Some might say the scoreboard reads:  Big Pharma-1, Consumers-Far Ahead.

      replyreport
      1. 61

         dianebowlingposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I totally agree. In their drive to blame the big pharmaceuticals for everything, people tend to forget where we would be without them. That being said, I do feel that there should be stronger regulation. Too many drugs are being fast tracked to the market before severe side effects come to light. It is a catch 22. I, for one, and immensely grateful for the vaccines that have prevented my children from catching horrible diseases like polio, whooping cough and haemophilus influenza type b.

         replyreport