JMPL Creates Docket for Claims Linking Gardasil Vaccine to Autoimmune Disorders

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has created a docket for lawsuits alleging injuries caused by Merck’s Gardasil vaccine, explaining that centralization will eliminate duplicative discovery and prevent inconsistent pretrial rulings, especially as to preemption issues under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act.

In an Aug. 4 order, the panel transferred the cases to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, and tapped Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. to oversee the docket.

Plaintiffs explained in their April 12 petition for coordination that there are dozens of Gardasil injury actions pending in at …