3rd Cir. Upholds Dismissal of 1,189 Zostavax Vaccine Cases for Lack of Causation

PHILADELPHIA — The 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld the dismissal of the majority of cases from the Zostavax MDL docket, ruling the trial court did not abuse its discretion in ordering the plaintiffs to produce tests determining that the shingles vaccine and not chickenpox caused them contract shingles.

In a July 16 opinion, the appellate panel ruled that the Lone Pine order was based on uncontradicted record evidence that a polymerase chain reaction assay (PCR test) is the only way to establish specific causation.

Zostavax was developed to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older and …