The World Health Organization recommended that new rotavirus vaccines made by GSK and Merck be included in all national immunization programs. The original vaccine against rotavirus, which kills over half a million children under five around the world each year, was removed from the market ten years ago because of a rare, potentially deadly side-effect.
The side effect presented in approximately one in 10,000 cases, says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross, which you would think is a minimal risk when hundreds of thousands of lives are at stake. But consumer groups forced Wyeth to withdraw the vaccine out of fear of litigation. Unfortunately, this is merely one example of how fear of American activists and litigators ties in to a major cause of death all over the world. A decade later, ACSH staffers are pleased to see that something is finally being done to protect sick children.
