Zostavax Shingles Vaccine Lawsuit
- Last Updated: July 14th, 2025
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Zostavax Shingles Vaccine Lawsuit Overview
Zostovax lawsuits allege that Merck, the maker of the vaccine, failed to warn the public that Zostavax could cause serious side effects.
A few of these include blindness, total hearing loss, and even shingles – the very virus it was created to prevent.
Table of Contents
What Is Zostovax?
Zostovax is a vaccine designed to reduce the risk of contracting shingles for people 50 years or older – when the virus is most commonly contracted.
It was approved by the FDA in 2006.
Zostavax contains the live varicella zoster virus, which is the same as the chickenpox virus known to cause shingles.
The live and weakened form of the shingles virus is used in order to activate the immune system.
After fighting this weakened version of the virus, the body builds immunity.
There is always a risk with vaccines that use a live form of the virus because if the form is not weakened enough — it will expose the person to the very thing they are attempting to protect themselves from.
Zostavax shingles vaccine lawsuits allege that this live or “attenuated” version of the virus was too potent for certain people causing them to develop shingles instead of fight against it.
Reportedly, Zostavax only works about 51% of the time and lasts six years.
Until 2017, it was the only FDA approved shingles vaccine in the United States.
What Are The Side Effects Of Zostavax?
There have been over 100,000 Zostavax adverse events reported to the FDA as of March of 2018.
In August 2014, the FDA ordered Merck to add shingles to the list of Zostavax side effects.
The side effects of Zostavax include, but are not limited to:
- Shingles
- Autoimmune diseases
- Blindness/vision loss (one or both eyes)
- Keratitis (inflammation of the cornea)
- Acute retinal necrosis (viral infection of the eye)
- Post Herpetic Neuralgia (nerve pain)
- Eye infections
- Hearing loss
- Brain damage
- Retinal damage
- Paralysis
- Congestive heart failure
- Death
What Is Shingles?
Shingles (herpes zoster) is a viral infection that creates inflammation in your nervous system causing a really painful skin rash that appears on one side (usually in the middle) of your body.
The rash can last up to 30 days and in some cases will cause nerve pain that lasts months — and sometimes even years.
The virus lays dormant in the body of anyone who has ever had chickenpox.
Elderly people are 3 to 7 times more likely to get shingles than the rest of the population.
The side effects of Shingles include, but are not limited to:
- Encephalitis (acute inflammation of the brain)
- Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM)
- Hemiparesis (weakness on one side of the body)
- Meningitis
- Neuropathic pain
- Stroke
Can I File A Zostavax Lawsuit?
Court documents have come to light alleging that Merck changed results in some of the vaccine’s clinical trials because it was falling below the 95% efficiency requirement needed in order for it to be sold to the public.
The company knowingly misrepresented the safety and efficacy of Zostavax.
If you file a lawsuit against Merck you will be helping to hold them accountable for negligence and not warning the public soon enough about the serious injuries their vaccine could cause.
Lawsuit compensation can help with medical bills, lost wages, and, of course, pain and suffering.
Unfortunately, anyone injured by Zostavax cannot seek compensation through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
This was set up only for individuals injured by childhood vaccines.
If you, or anyone you love, has suffered an injury after receiving the Zostavax shingles vaccine fill out the form on this page so we can get you in touch with an experienced vaccine lawyer to go over your legal options.
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With over 25 years of legal experience, Jessica Paluch-Hoerman is an Illinois lawyer, a CPA, and a mother of three. She spent the first decade of her career working as an international tax attorney at Deloitte.
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Here, at TruLaw, we’re committed to helping victims get the justice they deserve.
Alongside our partner law firms, we have successfully collected over $3 Billion in verdicts and settlements on behalf of injured individuals.
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