Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine injury lawyers from Wisner Baum (formerly Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman) filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of a young Utah woman who alleges Merck’s Gardasil HPV vaccine caused her to develop cervical cancer and other injuries. This is the first lawsuit to allege Gardasil can cause cervical cancer, the very cancer Merck asserts Gardasil prevents.
Plaintiff Caroline Cantera, 25, alleges New Jersey-based Merck & Co., Inc. and subsidiary Merck Sharp & Dohme oversold Gardasil as a “cervical cancer vaccine” and downplayed known health risks to enhance sales.
Cantera’s attorneys, Bijan Esfandiari, Michael L. Baum, and Monique Alarcon filed the complaint (Case No. 3:23-cv-00161) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina as part of the Gardasil multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 3036). Dozens of federal Gardasil injury cases filed throughout the country have been consolidated in North Carolina.
According to the complaint, Merck has never studied whether Gardasil prevents cervical cancer. Instead, Gardasil was tested to determine if it could prevent development of certain lesions, some of which are considered related to cancer, however, a majority of such lesions, even the most serious, regress on their own. Not every HPV infection places one at risk for cervical cancer. Only persistent HPV infections (not short-term or transient infections) in a limited number of cases may cause the development of precancerous lesions.
Public health officials have long recommended the Pap test as the most effective frontline public health response to preventing cervical cancer. Long before Gardasil was introduced to the market in 2006, cervical cancer rates had been plummeting by up to 80% with implementation of routine Pap testing. For those who are diagnosed with precancerous lesions or worse, cervical cancer is largely treatable if caught early.
Nonetheless, Merck sought fast-tracked FDA approval of Gardasil to fill a purported unmet need in preventing cervical cancer, with its expensive HPV vaccine. Once approved, Merck engaged in a relentless marketing campaign falsely proclaiming that Gardasil was a “cervical cancer vaccine” and that any young girl vaccinated with Gardasil would become “one less” woman with cervical cancer, the lawsuit claims.
Cantera alleges Gardasil can actually increase the risk of cervical cancer.
The Gardasil vaccine label specifically states, “Gardasil has not been evaluated for potential to cause carcinogenicity or genotoxicity.” Studies from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest the suppression of the HPV strains targeted by Gardasil (there are over 200 HPV strains and Gardasil targets between four and nine strains) may actually open an ecological niche for replacement by more virulent strains, thus increasing the risk of cervical cancer.
Merck’s own studies show that, for those previously exposed to HPV (a huge percentage of the population) when vaccinated, there is an up to 44.6% increased risk of developing advanced abnormal pre-cancer cells or worse. The Cantera Complaint concludes, “Merck’s studies suggest that its HPV vaccines may cause cancer in women who have previously been exposed to HPV, particularly if they also have a current infection.” Because this is a little-known fact, no screening is done prior to vaccination, thus increasing the risk.
The Complaint also cites rapidly climbing cervical cancer rates among young women in countries where Gardasil has seen a high uptake. Studies have also shown that young women who have received the Gardasil vaccine are foregoing routine Pap screening due to a false sense of security that the HPV vaccine will protect them from cervical cancer.
“Merck has heavily promoted Gardasil as a cancer prevention vaccine even though the studies weren’t designed to answer that question, and its marketing has effectively resulted in young women foregoing Pap screening, the most reliable and proven method of preventing cervical cancer. Merck also hasn’t studied whether Gardasil can cause cancer, but we now have evidence it can increase the risk of cancer” says HPV vaccine injury attorney Bijan Esfandiari, who serves as co-lead counsel for plaintiffs in the Gardasil MDL. “Given Merck makes over six billion dollars a year on Gardasil, it has little incentive to stop the deception. Through our litigation, we hope to expose the truth and hold Merck accountable for the harm it has done to Caroline and others.”
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