Today, US Supreme Court Hears Argument in Parents' Case Against Wyeth (now Pfizer)That May Open Doors to Child Vaccine Injury Lawsuits Across the Country

Hannah Bruesewitz is now 18 years old, and since she was a tiny baby she has suffered convulsions. Hannah can't speak. Hannah can't take care of her most basic needs: she has to have 24/7/365 care. (That's 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for you old school folk.) Imagine Hannah's life.

Hannah's parents, Russell and Robie Bruesewitz, believe that a DPT vaccine caused their beloved daughter to suffer irreparable injury - brain damage from a vaccine that is standard in a child's medical care. Who hasn't had their DPT shot?

In Bruesewitz v. Wyeth Laboratories, the parents have filed a lawsuit under their state's product liability laws, arguing that Wyeth is legally responsible for their daughter's injuries because of its diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus vaccine.

Wyeth Laboratories has defended itself (successfully thus far) by asserting the legal defense of preemption. Wyeth, now a part of Pfizer, assuredly with sad countenance, asserts that it is NOT legally liable to Hannah because legally, Congress already set up a "no fault" compensation system for kids who were hurt from vaccines. (Read the National Vaccine Injury legislation here.)Congress passed this "no fault" system into law back in 1986, and Wyeth Labs claims that because this federal law exists, then the state laws of Florida and every other state don't count. They are "preempted," federal over state.

Why did Congress pass this law? No secret there: everyone knew that vaccines were hurting kids, and there were so darn many cases of injury cropping up way back then that Congress passed the law to protect the drug manufacturers from the zillions of lawsuits (meritorious, by the way) that could be filed against them.

All those products liability lawsuits, my oh my. Vaccine injury cases so big in damage, and so many ready to be filed, that the drug companies might go under with all those awards (and legal fees, and appeals, etc.).

And lawsuits are a reason for drug companies to worry. Now that Wyeth is a part of Pfizer, consider Pfizer. In recent news coverage, we already know of claims by one whisteblower that Pfizer was pushing Lipitor on doctors, and this summer the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Pfizer, allowing a lower court ruling to stand that reinstated several law suits filed by Nigerian families alleging that Pfizer used their children as guinea pigs with an untested, experimental antibiotic.

Wow.

And all this before we even begin to consider a causal connection between autism and vaccines.

So, today, on this pleasant sunny Tuesday here in Miami Beach, we can look to Washington, D.C. and ask -- are kids going to be valued a bit more now?

Is Hannah finally going to get some justice? Are you?

For more information:

SCOTUS blog coverage of the Supreme Court proceedings

By Bryant Esquenazi on October 12, 2010 1:54 PM