Georgia court upholds Wyeth's liability for vaccine

The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that Wyeth (NYSE:WYE) can be held liable for damages in American Home Products Corp. v. Ferrari, a case involving alleged defects in a vaccine. In 2002, Marcelo and Carolyn Ferrari sued Wyeth (then American Home Products) alleging their son suffered neurological damage from an infant vaccine made with the preservative thimerosal, which contained mercury. In its decision, the court ruled that the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensations Act of 1986 does not preempt all design defect claims under state law. Instead, the act "provides that a manufacturer cannot be held liable for defective design if it is determined, on a case-by-case basis, that the injurious effects of the particular vaccine were unavoidable." The act created a federal fund to compensate those injured by vaccines on a no-fault basis in order to stabilize vaccine supplies and spur vaccine development. ...