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Vaccine Lawsuits
In recent years, a hypothesis has surfaced stating that vaccines which contain small amounts of mercury (used as a preservative) bear some link to the recent rise in autism diagnoses, leading some parents of autistic children to consider lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers.
It should be stated from the outset that there is no conclusive evidence linking vaccines to autism. In fact, autism rates in California have increased, even as use of the mercury-based preservative had been decreasing for several years.
With all of this said, there are still some risks associated with vaccines, which may give rise to legal action, either against the manufacturer, or the doctor administering it.
If the individual vaccine has some kind of manufacturing defect which causes injury, the victims will almost always be able to recover, assuming they can prove that a defect existed, and that it caused the injury.
If a doctor fails to exercise reasonable care in giving the vaccine (causing infection or a negative reaction, for example), anyone injured should be able to sue the doctor for malpractice.
Federal law requires that complaints against vaccine manufacturers (though not doctors) go through the federal Vaccination Injury Compensation Program before they can go to trial. This board has awarded compensation to autistic children for vaccine-related injuries in the past, but it has never actually found that vaccines cause or contribute to autism.
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