Bruesewitz v. Wyeth

The Supreme Court has agreed to rule on the legal right to sue by parents whose children have been injured by vaccines.

The case concerns whether the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act bars parents in Pittsburgh from suing the pharmaceutical company Wyeth over the side effects allegedly caused by its diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccines.

Robalee and Russell Bruesewitz claimed their daughter developed a seizure disorder after getting the vaccine when she was six months old. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed their claims as pre-empted by the act.

The federal appeals court decision conflicts with a ruling by the Georgia Supreme Court, which held that the federal law does allow some design defect claims against vaccine manufacturers.

Pfizer Inc., which purchased Wyeth last year, had also urged the high court to hear the case in order to set a precedent for future liability.

On March 8, 2010, the Supreme Court granted review.

Question presented: Whether Section 22(b)(1) of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 — which expressly preempts certain design defect claims against vaccine manufacturers “if the injury or death resulted from side effects that were unavoidable even though the vaccine was properly prepared and was accompanied by proper directions and warning” — preempts all vaccine design defect claims, regardless whether the vaccine’s side effects were unavoidable.