MDL Judge Dismisses Four Gardasil Vaccine Injury Cases

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The judge overseeing the Gardasil MDL docket has granted Merck & Co.’s motion to dismiss four cases, agreeing with the vaccine maker that the plaintiffs did not properly exhaust their remedies under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act.

On July 31, Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina found that one of the plaintiffs did not file a petition in Vaccine Court, and the remaining three did not file their petitions within the three-year statutory limitations period.

Plaintiffs in the cases allege they developed autoimmune conditions after …