High Court to hear vaccine case

Oct 13 2010

The New York Times: A Supreme Court case scheduled for today will examine whether the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act should protect manufacturers from "virtually all product liability lawsuits." The case deals with 18-year-old Hannah Bruesewitz, whose parents say she suffered developmental problems after receiving a diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine when she was six months old. That particular type of vaccine is no longer sold. The court ruling is expected to affect "hundreds of pending lawsuits that contend a link exists between childhood vaccines and autism," although the case itself is not related to autism (Meier, 10/11).

The Associated Press: "Drug companies, and the Obama administration, argue that the claims should be decided by a special vaccine court that was set up 24 years ago to insure a stable vaccine supply by shielding companies from most lawsuits" (10/12).