Merck Settles Gardasil Vaccine Injury Lawsuit for $50 Million
Merck & Co has agreed to pay 50 million dollars to settle more than 200 lawsuits brought against the drug giant by patients suffering from autoimmune disorders after receiving the Gardasil vaccine. According Merck, this settlement resolves all but one of the pending lawsuits filed against its HPV vaccine.1 Gardasil was fast-tracked to licensure by […]
U.S. Appellate Court Blocks Injunction Against Federal Agencies Acting to Censor Free Speech
Freedom of speech in the United States was delivered a blow on July 14, 2023 when a U.S. Federal Appeals Court issued a temporary stay blocking a preliminary injunction which limited the U.S. Justice Department’s communication with social media companies seeking to remove “content containing protected free speech.” The Appellate Court panel of Judges, Judge […]
Virginia Joins Amicus Brief to Halt COVID Vaccine Mandate in Military
On Aug. 31, 2022, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares added his name to an Amicus brief in a lawsuit urging the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to halt the U.S. government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for military personnel.1 The lawsuit was filed by 35 Navy personnel requesting religious exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. A […]
COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Federal Workers Reinstated by Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
On Apr. 7, 2022, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana ruled that the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all Federal workers must be reinstated. The 2-1 ruling reversed a lower court order blocking the vaccine mandate for federal workers. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Carl Stewart ordered the lower […]
U.S. Supreme Court Rules in Case on Religious Vaccine Exemptions for Deployment of Navy Seals
On Mar. 25, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration allowing the U.S. Navy to consider the COVID-19 vaccination status of military personnel when making deployment decisions. The 6-3 decision overrides a lower U.S. district court decision that had temporarily prevented the Navy from treating deployment of Navy Seals with religious vaccine […]
California Offers Reparations to Survivors of Forced Sterilization in the Name of Public Health
Jan. 1, 2022 marked the beginning of a $7.5 million California state program which is paying reparations to survivors of the state’s forced sterilization program that were performed between 1909 and 1979 under a state eugenics law. The California eugenics law, which spanned seven decades, allowed forced sterilization of women in hospitals, homes, or institutions […]