Supreme Court ruling protects vaccine makers from lawsuits

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Major national and regional print media including the Los Angeles Times, the AP, USA Today, and the Washington Post widely covered the Supreme Court ruling in a case which sought to hold a drug maker liable for the side effects of a childhood vaccine. Most sources considered the Court’s decision a victory for vaccine makers.

By a 6-2 vote, the court ruled against the parents of a child who sued the drug maker Wyeth in Pennsylvania state court for the health problems they say their daughter, now 19, suffered from a vaccine she received in infancy.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, which along with the US government had urged the court to bar such lawsuits, said the decision will enhance the national immunization system and ensure “that vaccines will continue to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in this country.”