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# ‘High Bar’ for Vaccine Liability Claims
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/high-bar-for-vaccine-liability-claims/
- Published: 2022-04-19T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T17:41:16.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Biologics, #legacy-id-D5151628

Three Morrison Foerster attorneys say a recent Connecticut federal court decision involving Merck’s Gardasil “makes clear there is a high bar for successfully pleading vaccine products liability cases.” The attorneys [write](https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/pleading-and-preemption-immunization-6731116/?ref=fdaweb.com) that the decision is one of the first major vaccine preemption decisions since FDA authorized Covid-19 vaccines.

The post says the plaintiff in the Gardasil case was a 15-year-old girl who had parental consent to receive the first two doses of the vaccine and experienced side effects. After an unfavorable outcome in the “vaccine court,” the plaintiff filed suit in federal court alleging state law failure to warn, manufacturing defect, negligence, and common law fraud claims.

“The crux of the plaintiff’s complaint was her failure to warn claim,” the attorneys say. “She alleged that her mother believed the vaccine was safe based on Gardasil television advertisements and other marketing material.”

The court granted Merck’s motion to dismiss, concluding that all claims were either preempted or inadequately pled.