''Bruesewitz v. Wyeth LLC'', 562 U.S. 223 (2011), is a United States Supreme Court case that decided whether a section of the
Vaccine Act of 1986
preempts all vaccine design defect claims against vaccine manufacturers.
Background
Hannah Bruesewitz, the daughter of the main petitioners in the case, received Wyeth's Tri-Immunol DTP vaccine as part of childhood immunizations. The Bruesewitzes claimed that Hannah's
seizures and later developmental problems came from the vaccine. They filed suit in the "
Vaccine Court", a special court within the
United States Court of Federal Claims. Their petition was dismissed for failure to prove a link between the vaccine and Hannah's health problems.
They proceeded to sue in Pennsylvania state court. The case was removed to the local federal court, which held that the claim was preempted by a section of the
National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. The
Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed. A petition for a writ of
certiorari
In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...
was granted on March 8, 2010, bringing the case to the Supreme Court.
In briefings before the Court, both sides argued over the specific language of the statutory provision.
Decision
The case was decided on February 22, 2011. The Court, in a 6-2 opinion by Justice
Antonin Scalia
Antonin Gregory Scalia (; March 11, 1936 – February 13, 2016) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectu ...
, held that the "plaintiffs design defect claims
ereexpressly preempted by the Vaccine Act." Thus, the court affirmed laws that vaccine manufacturers are not liable for vaccine-induced injury or death if they are "accompanied by proper directions and warnings."
Justices
Sonia Sotomayor and
Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented.
See also
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 562
References
External links
*
SCOTUSBlog Case Page Complete Oral Argument Audio and Transcript
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruesewitz V. Wyeth
Vaccination in the United States
2011 in United States case law
Vaccination case law in the United States
Wyeth
United States Supreme Court cases
United States Supreme Court cases of the Roberts Court