Merck Defeats Claims Over Alleged Gardasil Contamination

The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act’s exhaustion requirement bars a couple’s lawsuit against Merck & Co. alleging its Gardasil vaccine injured their daughter, a federal court said.

The Vaccine Act requires people seeking damages for vaccine-related illnesses or injuries to file a petition in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims before suing a vaccine’s maker. Shannon and William Powers didn’t do so, and their claims were barred, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said in an unpublished July 17 decision.

The Powers alleged their daughter, identified as “L.P.,” began experiencing adverse symptoms after receiving a Gardasil vaccine ...