I am not a soapbox advocate for all vaccines and simply believe that a parent's right to decide is paramount. I am also not a medical doctor and provide no medical advice. Yet, in my opinion, no one, and I mean NO ONE, should be allowed to interfere with a parent's right to determine appropriate health care for their child after they are fully informed of the vaccine issue at hand. I am also a father of two children and over the years I have evaluated and handled cases involving many horrific injuries to children including those involving meningitis. Historically, the issues involve whether a care provider timely worked up, diagnosed and treated meningitis with appropriate antibiotic therapy. As a parent I was scared to death of meningitis and its devastating consequences.
Much of this fear changed for me in 2007. It was at that time I first learned of Menactra and its ability to prevent most of the prevalent strains of meningitis. The sad fact is that I had to learn of it through representing a very active, bright and beautiful young teen who had not been offered Menactra. Had Menactra been offered to her, it would likely have prevented the strain of meningitis to which she would later be exposed. Through litigation for this young lady, I learned many more things. I learned that financial considerations play a large roll in patient vaccine care. This begins with the amount of money and sourcing to determine what vaccines to make, when and how much to make, what doctors will purchase, store, manage and offer, what patient groups will be involved, and what insurance companies and other entities will do as far as reimbursement. The uncertainty of all these aspects along with competing products and the risk of adverse events and reactions creates a very complex supply arena affected by many factors. In the end, they all affect the availability and prescribing of vaccines.
In short, Menactra was not offered to my young client. She and her mother both contend they were never advised of it during doctor visits. The care providers contend they did not offer it due to short supply and the need to first vaccinate those who they believed to be most at risk. They also contend they advised my client and her mother and all agreed to defer the vaccine until the next year. There is obviously much more to this story.
Whatever is argued to have occurred, in the end, my young client was not provided with the vaccine, others were, and she now has to live a lifetime with the devastating consequences of meningitis. Even though National Standards called for her to receive the vaccine, it was in stock in the doctor's office, and it was available at other doctor's offices in the area, my teenage client was not offered the vaccine when standards dictate she should have been offered it.
Unfortunately, my client's family states it did not learn of Menactra until my young client was in the hospital with full-blown Meningitis, fighting for her organs, her limbs and her life. It was only through litigation at an even later time that they learned why, in their minds, she had not been offered Menactra at all.
From this personal experience, my clients and I want to do what we can to educate families and reduce the number of children who fall through the vaccine cracks. We also want people to know that if they do fall into this crack, the initial apparent reason why their child did not receive a scheduled vaccine may not be the complete or ultimate reason. Under certain circumstances, litigation may be the only way to determine the complete truth and seek appropriate compensation. I have committed to undertake vaccine litigation locally, and even far away with appropriate local co-counsel, with no up-front costs advanced by the client, and on a contingency fee basis. The expert witnesses I use are some of the most respected in the country. Should your child become a victim of a failure to vaccinate, you and they deserve nothing less.
Should you have any questions about the failure to vaccinate your child, please feel free to call me on my cell phone at (216) 272-6561. You may also reach me by e-mail at crp@mccarthylebit.com. I will do what I can to help and guide you in the search for answers and the truth. There is no charge to speak with me.
