The number of lawsuits filed in North Carolina against Merck for its HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine, Gardasil, continue to mount and allege the company did not prove the vaccine was safe and effective before marketing it as an anti-cancer vaccine. Since 2022, almost 200 lawsuits alleging serious injury after receiving Gardasil have been consolidated in the Western District of North Carolina, Charlotte Division. The injured Plaintiffs come from across the country stating that the vaccine caused serious injury and chronic poor health, including autoimmunity, encephalitis and neurological dysfunction, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), development of diabetes, premature ovarian failure and infertility, and death.1
The lawsuits allege manufacture defect, failure to warn and negligence. They have been consolidated into one class action.2
North Carolina was the chosen forum for the cases which hail from across the country because Merck has a facility in the state. Plaintiffs allege that the drug company failed to “exercise ordinary care” in the research, development, distribution and marketing of Gardasil. They also point out that Merck did not use a saline placebo in pre-licensure trials and instead used a bioactive neurotoxic placebo, as well as failed to adequately test the vaccine in the targeted age group.3
Gardasil was fast tracked to licensure by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2006 and first recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to be given to all 11-12 year old girls. It was known at the time that Merck used an aluminum containing bioactive “placebo” in pre-licensure trials and only tested the vaccine in a small number of children under age 15.4
One injured Plaintiff received a diagnosis of endometriosis and fibromyalgia after experiencing, “excruciating pain post Gardasil shots.” Another Plaintiff was diagnosed with Type 3 diabetes along with mood disorders after her second Gardasil vaccine.5 A Plaintiff who has suffered from seizures and joint pain since receiving the Gardasil vaccines was diagnosed with Crohn’s and Celiac disease. While yet another Plaintiff has suffered from life-altering chronic body pain and memory problems since she had the Gardasil vaccines.6
Gardasil Allegedly “Obligingly Ushered” Through Approval Process
The lawsuit alleges that Julie Gerberding, MD, MPH, the director of the CDC in 2006 “obligingly ushered” the Gardasil vaccine through the regulatory process prior to leaving the CDC and being named president of Merck Vaccines.7 A June 2000 U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform hearing and August 2000 investigative report found that eight members of the Committee on Investigative Practices had a conflict of interest at the time that Gardasil was approved.8 9
The lawsuit states that the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform report found:
The chairman served on Merck’s Immunization Advisory Board and a number of the other members had received grants, salaries, or other forms of remuneration from Merck.10
The Court ordered Merck to release its entire adverse event database, Merck’s Adverse Event Reporting and Review System, to Plaintiffs after a Motion to Compel was filed. Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. Order issued on Mar. 20, 2023 stated:
[P]laintff’s and their experts should have the same opportunity as Merck to review and analyze the entirety of the data.11
New Lawsuits Allege Gardasil Caused the Death of Two Young Girls
Two additional lawsuits were filed recently by mothers who lost their daughters after receiving the Gardasil vaccine. The mothers assert that getting the vaccine led to serious autoimmune and neurological dysfunction, which ultimately led to the deaths of their daughters.
One of the mothers, Kristine Zuggi, said she decided to let her 10-year old daughter get Gardasil shots after seeing the marketing campaign claiming that the vaccine was safe and effective and prevents cancer. Her daughter, Isabella, developed lethargy, headaches, body aches, stomach pains, incontinence, insomnia, mood changes, and loss of balance, along with a fever, following the shots. She passed away within months of being vaccinated after being diagnosed with acute encephalitis caused by an autoimmune/autoinflammatory dysregulation process.12
The other mother to file a Gardasil injury lawsuit said that, after she relied on Merck’s claims that Gardasil was safe and effective, she let her 12-year-old daughter, Sydney, receive two Gardasil shots within a year. After the shots, her daughter suffered from fatigue, brain fog, headaches, ringing in her ears, leg pain, light sensitivity, involuntary body movements, inability to walk or swallow (which led to a feeding tube) and excruciating nerve pain, among other life-altering ailments.13
The young girl was soon in a wheelchair requiring 24-hour care and diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, functional neurological disorder and Tourette’s syndrome. Sydney ultimately died from a pulmonary embolism due to her immobility after receiving two Gardasil shots.
An attorney for the mothers said:
The senseless deaths of these two beautiful young girls brings home the seriousness of the allegations against Merck in these cases—that the company has exaggerated the benefits of Gardasil as cancer preventative and ignored the risks, including death—all for the sake of the company’s bottom line.14
Benefits of Gardasil Exaggerated, Adverse Events Not Disclosed
The Plaintiffs allege that Merck exaggerated the benefits of Gardasil and failed to properly disclose the adverse events. They claim that Merck knowingly failed to warn both doctors and the public about Gardasil’s true risk of injury and death. Plaintiffs state that Merck intentionally engaged in a “relentless propaganda campaign” with the intent to guilt and scare parents into giving their children the vaccine despite the lack of studies showing that Gardasil prevents cancer.15
The Complaint states:
Because it can take decades for a persistent HPV infection to proceed to development of cervical or anal cancer, and because cervical and anal cancers are so rare, a true efficacy study would require decades and likely hundreds of thousand—if not millions—of trial participants to demonstrate that eliminating certain HPV infections would actually prevent the development of cervical and anal cancer.
Merck never conducted these studies.
Merck countered the allegations arguing:
Nothing is more important to Merck than the safety of our products and the patients who take them. The overwhelming body of scientific evidence—which includes more than 20 years of research and development—continues to support the safety and efficacy profile of our HPV vaccines. We, along with regulatory authorities such as the FDA and other organizations around the world, continue to conduct post-marketing surveillance to monitor the safety of our HPV vaccines. We will vigorously defend against these cases.16
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Click here to view References:2 Munger L. Merck’s Gardasil Under Legal Scrutiny Despite Lack of Evidence to Support Suits. Biospace May 24, 2023.
3 Coin J. Patients file lawsuits in Charlotte court alleging issues caused by Merck’s HPV vaccines. The Charlotte Observer Mar 11, 2024.
4 National Vaccine Information Center. Merck’s Gardasil Vaccine Not Proven Safe for Little Girls. June 27, 2006.
5 Ibid.
6 Frances M. Hundreds of lawsuits filed in NC against HPV vaccine maker Merck. Yahoo News. Mar. 8, 2024.
7 Reuters. Former CDC head lands vaccine job at Merck. Dec. 21, 2009.
8 U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform. Hearing on Conflicts of Interest and Vaccine Development – Preserving the Integrity of the Process. June 15, 2000.
9 U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform. Majority Staff Report on Conflicts of Interest in Vaccine Policymaking. Aug. 21, 2000.
10 Coin J. Patients file lawsuits in Charlotte court alleging issues caused by Merck’s HPV vaccines. The Charlotte Observer Mar 11, 2024.
11 EIN Presswire. Court Orders Merck to Produce Entire Database of Gardasil Adverse Events. Apr. 6, 2023.
12 Athrappully N. Mothers Sue Merck Alleging Wrongful Deaths of Daughters From HPV Vaccine. Epoch Health Feb. 24, 2024.
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid.
16 Coin J. Patients file lawsuits in Charlotte court alleging issues caused by Merck’s HPV vaccines. The Charlotte Observer Mar 11, 2024.
11 Responses
The dirty secret about vaccine trials is they never use a true placebo to compare against the vaccine. They use an earlier version of the vaccine as the placebo or if none exists, they use all the toxic elements minus the alleged attenuated/killed virus. That way, both groups are getting poisoned and the outcomes show no difference between the two, insinuating that they are harmless.
I think Merck manufactured the Vioxx vaccine too. If I remember correctly, it took over 50K heart attacks and deaths to get that rat poison removed from the market. I’m sure the people were better off to continue living with the arthritis. I’ve been hearing about the plague of gardasil for over 15 years. Based upon what I see and hear. Most chemical based medicines and vaccines do more harm than good for anyone. People would truly do well too seek other Healthcare alternatives. Bad medicine is worse than no medicine.
It’s just a shame that the CEO and all the other officers of this poison peddling corporation can’t be personally held criminally accountable instead of civilly!
I would love for this vaccine to be taken off the market. I have never had problems with a vaccine in my life and had severe neuropathy after this vaccine. I have chronic neuropathy in the arm I received the injection since the injection years ago. I am a physician and have never had a medical problem before. I’m so glad this happened to me instead of my children. I will never let them get this vaccine. It’s amazing how many in the people have had problems with this vaccine and the medical community has tried to deny, brush it under the rug, or say it is a psychosomatic reaction. There is a lot more under the surface but I hope a class action lawsuit will start to bring some of it to the surface.
I personally do know of 4 girls……ages 11-14, whose parents were convinced by their Pediatricians…….that this Vaccine was necessary to prevent Cancer later. All 4 girls suffered horrible side effects from : Nausea, Vomiting, Headaches, aches throughout their bodies and Seizures. When the Parents confronted the Dr.’s……..they were told…….these symptoms had nothing to do with this Vaccine. This was 10 yrs. ago in California. Because I moved I didn’t stay in contact with these families to know if they ever filed lawsuits or what happened later to these girls health.
I’m so glad to see this suit. I’m curious about it though. I thought the manufacturers couldn’t be sued.
Just great how Merck really has no sympathy for the victims. They will defend themselves vigorously so they don’t have pay for this disaster. Pure evil.
Not to mention that HPV is usually cleared by the body naturally, can easily be treated if not (I had it once when I was young and a simple outpatient procedure removed the “suspicious” cells), and the “vaccine” only protects against 4 strains, whereas there are hundreds of HPV strains. Is this really worth risking such devastating consequences of the vaccine?
One of my best friends’ granddaughter was given the HPV shot a few years back when she was 13 or 14. She had no health problems, but developed POTS, a severe heart problem, after the shot. She was a wonderful equestrian and was better than many adults, but had to give it all up. I was greatly pained, because I knew the HPV was poison. Over a dozen years ago I watched a documentary out of the UK that told of over 1000 girls in high school and college age that were seriously harmed by this shot. It had doctors and government people all agreeing that the shots caused these tragic side effects. It showed girls who could not get out of bed but were once very athletic! Some were in wheelchairs, most could not continue their education because of headaches and nausea and other terrible side effects. Such a huge tragedy for all these girls! If only my friend had mentioned her daughter was thinking of getting her daughter the shot, I perhaps could have saved her from this tragedy…
That’s a big “perhaps” but I do agree it’s possible though not probable.*
Most people don’t tolerate cognitive dissonance when they are mindlessly following authorities’ advice. I’ve given up on trying to save people from the tragedy of quackzines. I also have a hard time feeling compassion for them anymore. If they need to learn the hard way, so be it. “Buyer beware” as I always say.
*I did send my stepson info about Gardisil because he has twin daughters approaching puberty. That’s when I found out he had already allowed his son who was about 12 to get one Gardisil dose. He thanked me for the info and swore no more doses for the boy. How demonic is it that harming girls isn’t enough for those demons, they need to poison boys too. Outrageous!
I have had 3 young patients who got Gardisil and developed ovarian failure in heir 20’s. My understanding is that the committee appointed to evaluate the drug before approval saif it should not be approved. After Julie Gerberding overrode that decision and approved it, she had several million dollars worth of Merck stock in her portfolio.