Lymerix Side Effects Injury Lawsuits. Lymerix (Lyme Disease Vaccine ) maybe linked to severe arthritis and the contraction of Lyme Disease itself. Lymerix is a vaccine intended to protect against Lyme Disease. Federal health authorities are investigating whether some people who received the Lymerix vaccine later developed severe cases of arthritis and even Lyme […]
Lymerix Side Effects Injury Lawsuits. Lymerix (Lyme Disease Vaccine ) maybe linked to severe arthritis and the contraction of Lyme Disease itself. Lymerix is a vaccine intended to protect against Lyme Disease. Federal health authorities are investigating whether some people who received the Lymerix vaccine later developed severe cases of arthritis and even Lyme disease itself as a result.
The FDA has received reports of such problems, mainly from doctors and researchers in the Northeast. The FDA approved the vaccine in 1998 and hundreds of thousands of Americans have received it. The vaccine is made by SmithKline Beecham Biologicals, a subsidiary of the British pharmaceutical company SmithKline Beecham.
It is too early to know how many people have been injured by the Lymerix vaccine. But in interviews reported in The New York Times, more than a dozen doctors in areas where Lyme disease is common say they have treated 170 people with arthritis and Lyme disease that they attribute to the Lymerix vaccine. The New York Times also reported that some doctors say the FDA should never have approved the Lyme vaccine or should have responded more quickly to adverse reports.
Dr. Andrea Gaito, a New Jersey rheumatologist and president of the International Lyme and Associated Disorders Society, said she had told the agency that 21 patients developed severe arthritis soon after being given the vaccine by other doctors. In The New York Times article, Dr. Gaito stated that she believed the vaccine caused arthritis and Lyme disease itself, but that the problems were not always linked to the vaccine because it took effect only after three immunization shots were given over the course of a year. Dr. Gaito believes the FDA should withdraw the Lymerix vaccine.
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