Oregon Personal Injury Lawyer Represents People Harmed by the HPV Vaccine Gardasil
Oregon personal injury attorney Aaron DeShaw, has filed a lawsuit for fraud, negligence, strict liability (failure to warn), strict liability (manufacturing defect) and breach of warranty against drug companies Merck & Co., Inc. and Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp for the HPV Gardasil vaccine. DeShaw is nationally known trial lawyer and was retained as Oregon trial counsel by Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman, P.C. of California and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of New York. DeShaw is a retired doctor who has a distinguished career as a trial lawyer on large national class action cases. He was retained as counsel in this case due to his extensive background with the type of nervous system damage and neurodegenerative conditions resulting from the Gardasil vaccine.
Dr. DeShaw and Baum Hendlund have a history of success working together on behalf of several brain damaged clients against medical device manufacturers selling dangerous Electroconvulsive Therapy devices, leading to the bankruptcy of ECT manufacturer Mecta. In this case, these three firms will work together to represent people injured by Merck's misrepresentations to the public and FDA regarding the ingredients and risks of the Gardasil vaccine.
HPV Vaccine Gardasil Lawsuit
Informed consent is a requirement before any medical treatment. Patients must be fully informed about the positive and negative consequences of the procedures or treatment they are receiving.
To provide a patient informed consent, doctors and the drug manufacturers must disclose all possible adverse effects of the treatment, the odds of suffering a particular “side effect,” and the odds that the condition will get worse without treatment. A patient should be able to consider the odds that they will benefit from the treatment and compare that to the odds of benefiting by not getting the treatment, or getting a different form of treatment.
Medical decisions involving cancer, neurodegenerative conditions, and reproductive matters are very personal and often involve a complex decisions weighing the risks and rewards. The balance of risk and reward is equally important, perhaps even more so, when it is not a disease that is being treated, but the potential of acquiring a disease, often decades later, as is the case with the HPV vaccine Gardasil. Below we address the specific problems with Gardasil, how Merck mislead the FDA and young girls and boys who received the Gardasil vaccine, and how people injured by Gardasil are now hiring our firm to file Gardasil lawsuits against Merck.
Oregon Attorneys Representing People Harmed by the HPV Vaccine Gardasil
Regardless of whether you are pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine, what happened with the Gardasil vaccine should concern every American.
Among other things, our Gardasil vaccine lawsuit alleges:
- Several years before launching Gardasil, Merck worked with one or more business consulting companies to create a false public panic about the effect of HPV in causing cervical cancer, creating a false public health "emergency" situation so that their drug would be given rapid approval by the FDA and immediate success upon the launch of Gardasil;
- Merck failed to disclose important information regarding Gardasil’s safety and effectiveness;
- Merck failed to perform essential “scientific and medical investigations and studies relating to the safety, effectiveness and need for the Gardasil vaccine” as required by FDA regulations;
- Merck misled consumers by preying on their fear of cancer and by repeatedly misrepresenting that it was necessary for girls and young women to take the Gardasil vaccine to prevent cervical cancer.
If you or someone in your family was harmed by Gardasil side effects and would like to know if you have a claim against Merck, contact us, or call us today at (503) 227-1233 for a free confidential case evaluation.
Controversy About The Gardasil Vaccine for HPV
Merck's Gardasil HPV Vaccine Makes Vaccines Look Bad
There is currently a great deal of controversy surrounding vaccines in the United States. Our firm wishes to stress that we take no position regarding vaccines as a whole. Vaccines have the potential to eradicate disease and save millions of lives. But, we are against intentional efforts by pharmaceutical companies to mislead consumers about the safety and effectiveness of a specific drug or vaccine. Throughout our history as a law firm we have always fought for public disclosure of fraudulent business practices, and fought for the rights of people to be fully and honestly informed about risks associated with any drug, vaccine, medical device or business practice. We continue to work to ensure those rights are defended, and that victims of injustice are compensated for their injuries.
The Gardasil vaccination litigation is not about being pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine. The issue is people's safety, and whether a patient should be fully informed before consenting to a vaccine.
While Merck publicly maintained that the Gardasil vaccine is safe, our Gardasil vaccine lawsuit alleges that Merck failed to dislose important information to consumers, leading to horrible permanent injuries and deaths. Here are a few of the issues alleged in the first Oregon HPV Vaccine Gardasil lawsuit filed by our office:
Undisclosed HPV DNA Fragments
Fragments of actual HPV DNA were found in samples of Gardasil by Dr. Sin Hang Lee, a pathologist with expertise in DNA sequencing and DNA sequence analysis.
Dr. Lee said, “HPV DNA in Gardasil is not ‘natural’ DNA. It is a recombinant HPV DNA (rDNA) – genetically engineered – to be inserted into yeast cells for VLP (virus-like-particle) protein production. rDNA is known to behave differently from natural DNA. It may enter a human cell, especially in an inflammatory lesion caused by the effects of the aluminum adjuvant, via poorly understood mechanisms … Once a segment of recombinant DNA is inserted into a human cell, the consequences are hard to predict.”
These HPV DNA fragments are not disclosed in the package insert.
Aluminum is in the Gardasil Vaccine
The chemical amorphous aluminum hydroxyphosphate sulfate (AAHS) is added to Gardasil to produce a stronger, longer immune response. Certain other vaccines also contain aluminum-containing chemicals that are added to the vaccine for this purpose such as the diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis (DTP) and hepatitis B vaccines. The problem is that aluminum is known neurotoxin and can lead to brain damage and nervous system dysfunction. In medical research published in Scientific Reports, “the brain is a target tissue for accumulation of aluminum.” The study discusses that in cases where aluminum gets into the brain, people form neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases. The study confirms previous research that higher levels of aluminum exist in the brain tissue of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, autism and autism spectrum disorder, and multiple sclerosis.
The many toxic effects of aluminum include:
- Impairing cognitive and motor function
- Altering of DNA, chromatin RNA structure
- Inducing autoimmune interactions and macrophagic myofasciitis, a rare muscle disease
- Blocking neuronal signaling
- Binding to protein and affecting protein function
- Inhibiting antioxidant enzyme action
- Interfering with synaptic transmission and disrupting mitochondria and organelles in cells
There is no human safety testing data on AAHS.
Aluminum increases permeability of the blood-brain barrier. That barrier is the body’s way of preventing toxins from entering brain tissue. Another Gardasil ingredient, polysorbate 80, also has this capability.
This raises the question of whether Gardasil is actually transporting aluminum into the brain. A report on aluminum toxicity in Medscape states that aluminum causes oxidative stress in brain tissue and has a half-life in the brain of 7 years, which “can result in cumulative damage.”
Research has shown aluminum has a unique ability to provoke powerful immune responses. High doses of aluminum can cause an over stimulation of the immune system. As a result, the immune system attacks the body’s own organs.
Merck claims that AAHS is proprietary and, to date, has refused to provide samples to independent researchers for testing, so we don’t know the full composition of AAHS. Merck has refused to provide Neither Merck nor governmental regulators have safety tested AAHS in humans.
Polysorbate 80
Polysorbate 80 is a surfactant, a substance that reduces the surface tension of liquids. It is used in vaccines as an emulsifier to keep ingredients evenly mixed throughout the liquid. Polysorbate 80 weakens the blood-brain barrier and binds fairly tightly to aluminum. It has been associated with anaphylactic shock and hypersensitivity reactions. This adjuvant has also been linked to reproductive and cardiac effects in animals. The American College of Pediatricians has warned that Gardasil is linked to a condition known as Premature Ovarian Failure and that polysorbate 80 or aluminum in Gardasil might be causing the condition.
Sodium Borate (Borax)
Sodium borate has been banned in food in the U.S. and poses a potential harm to the male reproductive system and to the developing fetus. It can cause acute toxic reactions when eaten or inhaled, which raises the question of what reactions might result when it is injected. The intensity of a toxic reaction can be influenced by the route of exposure.
L-Histidine
L-histidine (also called histidine) is a chemical compound the body uses to make another chemical, histamine. When you experience an allergic reaction – itching, tears, swelling, hives – histamines are at work in the body. Histamines are part of the body’s immune system, its effort to get rid of substances (e.g., pollen, grass, food) that are bothering you. (That’s why you take antihistamines, like Benadryl). Histamines are involved in a great many bodily functions involving the central nervous system, cardiovascular system, and the respiratory tract. They cause inflammation and, like aluminum and polysorbate 80, they also increase the permeability of blood vessels.
According to one source, histamines have been found to increase blood clotting by 5 times when combined with surfactants – and death from blood clots is the most common form of death after Gardasil injection.
Genetically Modified Yeast
The type of yeast used in Gardasil, Saccharomyces cerevisiae may cause autoimmune disease by provoking an autoimmune response in the body. In a study published in Clinical Reviews in Allergy & Immunologyin 2013, the authors stated that “a growing number of studies have detected high level of ASCAs [antibodies toS. cerevisiae] in patients affected with autoimmune diseases.”
When a major drug manufacturer like Merck misleads the public about what they are putting into a vaccine it raises concerns about what they aren't telling us about other vaccines and undermines public trust in the medical system.
If you or someone in your family was harmed by Gardasil side effects and would like to know if you have a claim against Merck, contact us, or call us today at (503) 227-1233 for a free confidential case evaluation.
The HPV Virus's Impact on Cancer, and the Background for the Gardasil Vaccine
Viruses, unlike bacteria, which are single-celled organisms, have no cellular structure. They are incredibly small (much smaller than bacteria) packets of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA – the genetic material that carries a life form’s operating instructions. The DNA is enclosed in a protein shell. Viruses cannot reproduce by themselves. They reproduce by inserting themselves into a cell and taking over the reproductive machinery of the cell.
Scientists have identified over 200 different types of HPV and fully mapped the sequence of biomolecular “letters” – called bases or nucleotides – that make up the DNA of each type. Each type is numbered according to the order in which it was “discovered,” in other words, according to when it was found to have DNA that differed in precisely defined ways from any other HPV virus type.
Approximately 60 HPV types are capable of infecting the mucous membranes that line the genital regions and the anus. From there they spread through direct genital contact.
High-Risk HPV and Low-Risk HPV
HPV viruses are divided into two categories – high-risk and low-risk types. Low-risk types pose little or no risk of causing cervical cancer, but they may cause genital warts and minor changes in cervical cells. HPV types 6, 11, 40, 42, 43, 44, 54, 61, 70, 72, and 81 are considered low-risk. 90% of genital warts are associated with types 6 and 11.
High-risk types are those that have been linked to cervical cancer. HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 68, 73, and 82 are high-risk. Three other types, 26, 53, 66, have been classified as “probable” high risk types. Two of these high-risk types, 16 and 18, are said to cause about 70% of cervical cases.
Collectively, HPV types 16, 18, 45, 31, and 33 are said to account for approximately 85% of invasive cervical cancer worldwide.
The first Gardasil HPV vaccine, known as the “quadrivalent” Gardasil 4 vaccine (no longer available in the U.S.), purportedly protected against infection from two low-risk types (6 & 11) and two high-risk types (16 & 18). The current Gardasil 9 HPV vaccine purportedly protects against those four types plus 5 other high-risk types – 31, 33, 45, 52 and 58.
How Does HPV Cause Cancer?
The path that leads from HPV infection to cervical cancer is not straightforward. In fact, most of the time, cancer does not develop at all.
The basic steps in the process that sometimes leads to cervical cancer are as follows:
- Infection with HPV
- Persistent HPV infection of the mucous membranes
- Appearance of lesions (abnormal cells that are considered “pre-cancerous”).
- Lesions progress in seriousness
- Appearance of non-invasive cervical cancer
- Invasive cervical cancer
Let’s take a look at these steps.
Gardasil was promoted as an HPV vaccine that prevents cervical cancer by preventing HPV infection. But the human body is remarkably effective at clearing HPV infection all by itself. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “More than 90% of new HPV infections, including those caused by high-risk HPV types, clear or become undetectable within two years, and clearance usually occurs in the first six months after infection.”
There is considerable evidence that methods not involving vaccination could raise the 90% clearance rate even higher. The human immune system is remarkably powerful. Its strength, which varies from person to person, can be enhanced andscientists are already making progress doing just that.
Is Gardasil Necessary to Prevent Cervical Cancer?
The medical evidence suggests that, even without an HPV vaccine like Gardasil, the risk of cervical cancer could be virtually eliminated – at least in developed countries – with regular testing and, if necessary, treatment. In most cases, death from cervical cancer is the result of not having been screened, or going too long between checks.
The American Cancer Society states that there are “ways to stop this disease from developing” (emphasis added). “The most important thing you can do to prevent cervical cancer,” the ASC says, “is to be tested according to American Cancer Society guidelines.” This includes Pap tests and HPV testing. In addition to vaccination, the AMC also lists stopping smoking, limiting sex partners, and the use of condoms as ways to stop the disease. Other factors, such as being overweight, a diet low in fruits and vegetables, low levels of vitamin A and folate, and long-term use of oral contraceptives, increase the risk.
A healthy immune system provides a powerful defense against most HPV infections and the lesions that sometimes appear. When lesions persist and become more serious, they can be removed to prevent them from becoming cancerous.
HPV Vaccine: Risk and Reward
All of this bears upon the issue of risk and reward that was raised earlier. Mounting evidence shows that the Gardasil HPV vaccine is not as safe as Merck & Co. claims. Serious adverse effects, including Gardasil deaths, have been discovered and plaintiffs in HPV vaccine lawsuits allege the clinical testing of the HPV vaccine was rigged to conceal serious Gardasil side effects and the rates at which they were occurring.
As the risk of adverse health effects increases, the question of reward becomes more important. The evidence reviewed above shows that, with regular Pap and HPV testing, and, if necessary, removal of pre-cancerous lesions, the risk of getting cervical cancer is very small. This means the protection (the reward) offered by vaccination may not differ significantly, if at all, from the reward of practicing safe sex, removing risk factors like smoking, strengthening the immune system, getting regular testing and, if necessary, removal of any precancerous lesions.
The decision of whether to receive the Gardasil HPV vaccine is of course a personal one. But it must be guided by informed consent – an honest disclosure of the risks and rewards of vaccination, alternative treatments (or prevention), or no treatment at all.
Injuries caused by the Gardasil HPV Vaccine:
Injuries sustained by girls, young women and boys who were pressured into getting the Gardasil HPV Vaccine include:
- Death
- Autonomic Nervous System Dysfunction ("Dysautonomias")
- Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)
- Auto-immune disorders (Lupus and others)
- Chronic Migraine Headaches
- Chronic pain conditions including Complex Regional Pain Syndrome ("CRPS") - (sometimes called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy or Causalgia)
- Reproductive disorders, including premature ovarian failure (POF)
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis in some countries)
- Orthostatic Intolerance
- Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS)
- Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP)
- Movement disorders
- Neurological disorders
- Sinus Tachycardia (rapid heartbeat)
- Small fiber neuropathy
- Fibromyalgia
Gardasil Vaccine Side Effects in Girls and Women Potentially Indicative of an Autoimmune Disease
- Arthralgia (joint pain)
- Arthritis
- Arthropathy (joint disease)
- Diabetes
- Celiac disease
- Hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Nephritis (inflammation of the kidneys)
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Scleroderma (an autoimmune disease that affects skin and connective tissue, including tissue that supports the body’s nerves and blood vessels)
- Stevens-Johnson syndrome (a severe and sometimes fatal skin disease)
- Systemic lupus erythematosus (an autoimmune disease characterized by painful and swollen joints, fever, chest pain, mouth ulcers, feeling tired, and rash)
Gardasil Shot Side Effects in Boys and Men Potentially Indicating an Autoimmune Disease
- Ankylosing spondylitis (a type of arthritis fusing the spinal bones)
- Arthralgia, arthritis
- Autoimmune thrombocytopenia
- Diabetes mellitus type 1
- Hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Myocarditis
Filing a Gardasil Lawsuit
If you or someone in your family was harmed by Gardasil side effects and would like to know if you have a claim against Merck, contact us, or call us today at (503) 227-1233 for a free confidential case evaluation.