Day on Torts
The United States Supreme Court has decided to hear Bruesewitz v. Wyeth, a case where the Bruesewitz family says there should be legal recourse beyond the administrative process set up by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act.
The minor plaintiff suffered seizures two hours after receiving her six-month DPT vaccine in 1992. The seizures caused permanent neurological damage. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Bruesewitz family.
The USSC docket number is 09-152. The issue is stated as follows:
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.
Here is a copy of the cert petition. Here is the brief in opposition.