A Los Angeles trial involving a plaintiff who alleges that Merck & Co.’s human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) led to side effects including chronic pain, a heart condition and fatigue has been postponed until September, according to attorneys familiar with the case.
The delay in the trial that got under way last month in Los Angeles County Superior Court also comes amid concerns that the confirmation hearing of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the new Department of Health and Human Services secretary could have influenced potential jurors. Kennedy, the founder of Children’s Health Defense and a vaccine critic, had a financial interest in the litigation challenging the Gardasil vaccine, according to Kennedy’s U.S. Senate testimony.
“I really can’t add anything beyond what I’ve already said,” one of the attorneys for plaintiff Jennifer Robi, Mark Lanier, said in an email to the Southern California Record. “This new trial schedule will afford the parties time to assess new (scientific) studies and avoids any taint of the jury over the RFK fights for his confirmation.”
The legal proceedings represent the first trial of a Gardasil lawsuit in California, according to Ray Flores Law. The Wisner Baum law firm in Los Angeles began the jury selection last month prior to the parties agreeing to postpone the trial. The parties also cited possible developments coming up in a federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) about Gardasil in North Carolina as reasons for the trial delay, according to a blog post by attorney Flores.
“Jennifer Robi, who has been confined to a wheelchair since age 16 after receiving the Gardasil HPV vaccine, filed her lawsuit against Merck in 2016, accusing Merck of fraud, negligence and concealing the risks associated with the vaccine,” Children’s Health Defense said in its description of the lawsuit. “She claims that after receiving three doses of Gardasil, she experienced severe immunological side effects that led to her current disability, including chronic pain, fatigue, blurred vision and weakness.”
The lawsuit also accuses Merck of aggressive marketing of the vaccine and withholding safety data about the vaccine during its federal approval process. But the company and federal agencies say the vaccine is safe and effective in preventing future cancers.
“There is an overwhelming body of scientific evidence, including more than 30 years of research and development along with real-world evidence generated by independent investigators which continues to support the safety and efficacy of Gardasil,” Merck spokesman Robert Josephson said in an email to The Record. “Indeed, even within the last several days, (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has published compelling new evidence that the HPV vaccine is preventing cervical cancer in young women.”
The CDC reported this week on a study concluding that during the years 2008 through 2022, the incidence of cervical precancer declined 79% among the age group that was most targeted for HPV vaccinations, women who are now aged 20 to 24 years.
“We do not think it is any coincidence that the plaintiff sought to adjourn this trial only after Merck had succeeded in putting much of this 30-year portfolio of scientific evidence before the jury,” Josephson said. “We are confident that if and when this trial ever resumes, the body of scientific evidence that caused plaintiffs to propose an adjournment will remain as compelling as it is today.”
Merck also released new scientific data last November saying that the vaccine not only provides cancer protection for young females but can protect against HPV-related cancers in older men and women.
“Gardasil 9 is a vaccine indicated in females 9 through 45 years of age for the prevention of cervical, vulvar, vaginal, anal, oropharyngeal and other head and neck cancers caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) …” the company reported. “Gardasil 9 is indicated in males 9 through 45 years of age for the prevention of anal, oropharyngeal and other head and neck cancers caused by HPV. …”
The CDC reports that 135 million doses of HPV vaccines have been administered nationwide, and detailed data has shown that the vaccines are safe, though the most common side effects are pain and swelling at the vaccine site as well as dizziness, nausea and headache.