Student Well-Being

Got a Problem With Vaccines? You Can’t Sue the Manufacturer.

By Nirvi Shah — February 22, 2011 1 min read
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My colleague Mark Walsh writes today about a Supreme Court ruling that nixes attempts to sue drug manufacturers over the side effects of their vaccines.

The case was brought on behalf of Hannah Bruesewitz, now 19, who suffered seizures and has had developmental disabilities since having a bad reaction to a diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine known as Tri-Immunol as an infant in 1992.

In the 6-2 ruling, Mark reports that “Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a dissent joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She said the majority’s decision ‘leaves a regulatory vacuum in which no one ensures that vaccine manufacturers adequately take account of scientific and technological advancements when designing or distributing their products’.”

A version of this news article first appeared in the On Special Education blog.