Class Action Lawsuits Filed in British Columbia Against Merck Frosst Canada and Glaxosmithkline and Aventis Pasteur for Injuries Caused by Thimerosal

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Attention News Editors:

Class Action Lawsuits Filed in British Columbia Against Merck Frosst Canada and Glaxosmithkline and Aventis Pasteur for Injuries Caused by Thimerosal

    VANCOUVER, Feb. 25 /CNW/ - Two class action lawsuits were filed yesterday
in the Supreme Court of British Columbia against on behalf of British Columbia
residents who were injured by the organic mercury compound Thimerosal.
    The first class action was filed by Jaqueline Chamberlain of Sooke,
British Columbia, on behalf of her infant son, Aaron, who suffered
neurological damage after receiving two doses of the DPT vaccine, containing
Thimerosal, manufactured by Aventis Pasteur Limited/Aventis Pasteur Limitee.
    Aaron was born a perfectly normal, healthy boy, he demonstrated social,
language, cognitive, behavioral and physical skills appropriate for his age.
At about 1 1/2 years of age, after receiving the DPT Vaccine, he became
unresponsive, withdrawn, slow in speech development, developed repetitive
behaviors and an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Aaron was diagnosed with
autism at age 5 and now ten years old still has limited language and social
skills.
    The second class action was filed by Elias Soursos of Richmond, British
Columbia, on behalf of his infant son, Niko, who began to display symptoms of
neurological damage after receiving 3 shots of the hepatitis B vaccines,
containing Thimerosal, manufactured by Merck Frosst Canada & Co. and
Glaxosmithkline Inc.
    Niko was born a perfectly normal, healthy boy. Before the Vaccine
injections Niko achieved every developmental milestone expected of all
normally developing children physically, neurologically and socially. At
approximately 1 1/2 years of age after receiving 3 shots of hepatitis B
Vaccines, Niko began to display signs of neurological damage, became more
distant and lost all language skills that he had acquired and became non-
verbal and developed self-stimming behaviors. Niko was diagnosed with autism
at the age of 2 1/2 years old.
    According to the Statements of Claim, filed today in Vancouver, British
Columbia, Aventis Pasteur, Merck Frosst Canada and Glaxosmithkline knew or
reasonably should have known of the neurotoxic effects of the mercury
contained in Thimerosal in the Vaccines. Mercury poisoning is well documented
in medical literature and the developing neurological systems of infants are
particularly vulnerable. The Defendants developed tested, manufactured,
licensed, distributed, marketed, supplied and/or sold the Vaccines with the
knowledge that they would be injected into infants.
    The lawsuits were filed on behalf of Aaron and Niko by class action
lawyer David Klein of Klein Lyons of Vancouver. According to Klein "the
Defendants failed to communicate the dangerous nature of the Vaccines to the
public, and must be held accountable for their negligence. It may be to late
for Aaron and Niko but Thimerosal has been taken out of all routine vaccines
for infants in Canada".




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For further information: David Klein, Klein Lyons, Suite 1100, 1333 West 
Broadway, Vancouver, B.C., (604) 874-7171

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