Law Firms Continue Thimerosal Litigation Despite "Eli Lilly" Rider - Medical Monitoring Urged November 26, 2002 - A consortium of law firms representing children exposed to mercury in vaccines, led by attorneys Michael Williams, of Portland, Oregon, and Richard S. Lewis of Washington, D.C., have vowed to continue litigation against manufacturers of thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative found in some childhood vaccines, despite the "Eli Lilly" rider attached to the Homeland Security Bill and signed into law by President Bush yesterday. The national consortium, lead by Williams, of Williams, Dailey, O'Leary, Crane & Love, and Lewis with Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, is seeking to have vaccine manufacturers set up court-administered funds that would allow children to get needed medical tests in order to mitigate potential neurological damage caused by thimerosal exposure. Thimerosal, which is fifty percent mercury, was added to vaccines to prevent bacteria contamination when a doctor repeatedly drew vaccine doses from the same vial. After scientists and parents raised concerns about injecting children with mercury, thimerosal was taken out of vaccines in the late 1990s. Lawyers contend, however, that thimerosal and vaccine manufacturers' documents indicate that these companies knew about the health problems associated with thimerosal since at least the early 1970s. The Institute of Medicine has also concluded it is "biologically plausible" that thimerosal is causing neurodevelopmental disorders. While the rider attached to the Homeland Security Bill forced thimerosal personal injury claims into the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, a federal program designed to protect vaccine manufacturers from liability and reduce compensation levels for victims, the rider will not have any effect on cases seeking "medical monitoring" injunctive relief which gives medical tests to children, not cash awards. Lawyers contend, however, that it is likely that lobbyists will push for additional special interest legislation in the new session of Congress to wipe out the medical monitoring cases, completely depriving mercury-exposed children of any remedy in the court system and shutting down fact investigation into what the drug companies knew about the dangers of thimerosal and when they knew it. Richard S. Lewis responded to the Homeland Security Bill signing by stating that, "we are troubled that this provision was made a part of this bill; we will actively continue our efforts to seek testing for kids who were exposed to excessive mercury levels so that we can mitigate brain damage before it becomes irreversible." Michael Williams added, "The 'Eli Lilly' rider merely reinforces the importance and public health necessity of this law suit. The back-room deal that put these anti-child amendments into the Homeland Security Bill is just the first step in the drug companies' efforts to completely avoid any responsibility for what they did to a generation of children." Other members of the consortium include: Larry Cohan of Anapol, Schwartz, Weiss, Cohan, Feldman & Smalley in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Tobias Millrood of Schiffrin & Barroway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and David Klein of Klein and Lyons of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. For more information, please contact us at lawinfo@cmht.com. |
