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Thimerosal plaintiffs push on despite setbacks.

Article Excerpt
A recent decision by the Pennsylvania Superior Court closed that state's courthouse doors to an autistic boy and his parents. They had sued several vaccine makers and distributors, claiming that his neurological disorder was caused by thimerosal, a mercury-laden preservative used in children's vaccines during the 1990s.

A unanimous three-judge panel ruled that the plaintiffs had to exhaust their administrative remedies under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act by filing a claim with the federal Vaccine Court before they could proceed in civil court. (Cheskiewicz v. Aventis Pasteur, Inc., No. 572 EDA 2003, 2004 WL 326693 (Pa. Super Ct. Feb. 23, 2004).)

Defense lawyers called the decision--the latest in a string of defeats across the country for plaintiffs with similar claims--a "significant victory," but lawyers who represent stone of the thousands of plaintiffs with pending thimerosal claims say the fight is far from over.

The Pennsylvania court acknowledged that its decision would have all especially harsh result be cause the Vaccine Court would probably rule that any claim filed by the plaintiffs--Alan and Rita Cheskiewicz and their 10-year-old son, A.J.--was untimely. The Vaccine Act requires that a claim be filed within three years of "the first symptom or manifestation of onset or of...

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