Merck Says All Gardasil MDL Claims Preempted by Vaccine Act

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Merck & Company Inc. has asked the judge overseeing the federal Gardasil docket to rule that all claims in the MDL are preempted by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, arguing that it extends to the HPV vaccine.

In a May 21 opposition filed before Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, Merck says Gardasil became covered under the Act when, in 2006, the Center for Disease Control recommended routine use of HPV vaccines in children and Congress added the vaccines to the list of taxable vaccines.