Gardasil Vaccine Injury Trial Underway in California State Court

California jury is now hearing evidence in a lawsuit claiming side effects of the HPV vaccine Gardasil caused a woman to suffer heart problems and nerve pain.

The first jury trial involving allegations that the Gardasil vaccine can cause severe health problems began last Monday, which could be the first of hundreds of similar claims to go before juries if the parties are unable to reach a settlement.

Gardasil is an HPV vaccine that has been aggressively promoted by Merck, for use among both young girls and boys, to protect against the development of HPV infections that can be sexually transmitted, and lead to the development of cervical cancer.

Although the vaccine is widely believed to be safe and effective, there are now hundreds of product liability lawsuits being pursued against Merck by individuals throughout the U.S., each raising similar allegations that the drug maker failed to disclose the risk of serious autoimmune disorders that may result from side effects of the Gardasil vaccine.

The vast majority of the litigation has been brought in the federal court system, where all Gardasil lawsuits have been centralized as part of a federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the Western District of North Carolina under U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell, Sr. for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings. However, there are some cases filed in state courts, including in California.

One of those cases was brought by Jennifer Robi in 2017, who claims that she experienced a number of injuries from the Gardasil vaccine, including the development of heart problems and nerve pain.

In 2023, Robi’s mother brought attention to the undisclosed health risks linked to Gardasil when she testified before the California State Assembly Health Committee on her daughter’s experiences with the HPV vaccine.

That case is the first Gardasil lawsuit to go to trial, with jury selection starting on January 22, and the trial getting underway last Monday.

While the outcomes will have no effect on the other cases filed in either state or federal court, the trial is being closely watched by lawyers involved in the litigation, to see how the jury responds to evidence and testimony that will likely be repeated throughout the litigation.

In a press release, issued the day after the trial started, Merck defended the safety of the vaccine, claiming Robi’s case has no merit. However, if the jury awards substantial damages for Robi’s Gardasil vaccine injury, it may impact the drug makers current stance on defending the litigation.

February 2025 Gardasil Lawsuits Update

While Robi’s trial gets underway in California state court, Judge Bell is presiding over coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings in 16 Gardasil injury lawsuits selected to serve as potential bellwether test trials in the federal court system.

In a critical ruling issued last year, Judge Bell cleared the Gardasil vaccine lawsuits to move forward, finding that plaintiffs’ claims that Merck failed to adequately warn medical providers about side effects users may experience are not blocked by the National Childhood Vaccine Act, which granted certain protections to manufacturers of vaccines.

In the future, Judge Bell is expected to narrow the 16 selected claims down to a smaller group that will likely be prepared to go to trial near the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026.

While the amount of any damages awarded in the bellwether cases will not have any binding impact on other Gardasil claims, the trials may have a substantial impact on the amount the drug maker needs to pay for Gardasil vaccine injury settlements to avoid hundreds of individual claims going before juries nationwide over the next few years.