Legal: Litigation - Getting to the point.

(From Reinsurance)

Byline: Huhnsik Chang, a partner in the (re)insurance department at Edwards &

Among the latest product liability/mass tort lawsuits facing the pharmaceutical and health care industries are claims concerning thimerosal - a preservative added to vaccines containing mercury. Some of the lawyers who were involved in mass litigation over asbestos, tobacco, breast implant, fen-phen, Rezulin and Norplant are getting involved and think they have found the next big thing: lawsuits brought on behalf of autistic children who received mercury-containing vaccines.

Since the 1930s, manufacturers of most vaccines have used thimerosal, a common preservative that contains mercury, to prevent bacterial contamination.

But the practice became more common in the last 15 years as pharmaceutical companies began to produce more multidose vials to cut costs. And children began receiving more immunisation shots - as many as 30 - as vaccines for more diseases became available. Thimerosal was used in three vaccines: diptheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTP); haemophilus B (HIB), which protects against acute respiratory infection, conjunctivitis and meningitis; and hepatitis B.

Developing allegations

In the last few years, some parents whose babies had been developing normally but suddenly exhibited signs of autism alleged that the vaccines were the culprit. They are being backed by some doctors, since the symptoms of mercury poisoning are similar to autism.