side effect of rubella vaccine

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?CA
My wife got a rubella shot at the hospital after the birth of our first child -Jan,3 04. She had a sever reaction to the shot, it caused severe case of fibromalgia. beside the pain she is in at this time, she was unable to take care of my daughter and that also emotionally devastated her.

1. The hospital did not inform us that they were going to test her for rubella antibodies. Nor gave us the list of side effect of the shot. Does the hospital have any liability is this situation.

2. There is a government program that assist or compensate for a vaccine reaction of this nature, do you know a lawyer that is familiar with this system in the San Jose, CA Area.

williams_95136
You have described one current trend in healthcare that I strongly oppose. This vaccine is not to be given to persons who are 'sick'. Although a woman who has recently given birth is not sick, her body is certainly challenged and it is unknown whether or not she has an infection or other medical condition. I strongly advocate refusal of the vaccine until such time as mother and infant are beyond the immediate post-partum period, but...that's not the issue here, is it?

A couple of years ago, I answered essentially the same question and provided the protocol for reporting vaccine-related problems. You can gain the information from the CDC's site on the web.

Is the hospital liable? probably not. I sincerely doubt the vaccine was given without your wife's permission and without informing her of the vaccine's attributes and possible side effects as administration of a vaccine requires more documentation/procedures than does a routine injection of medication. It isn't easy to let such documentation 'slide'. It is required that the patient receive a copy of the signed permission form and such form lists all of the possible risks and side effects; a copy is in the medical records. Additionally, your wife would probably have accepted the vaccine even if she had studied the material and given consideration to whether or not to receive the vaccine.

Check out the CDC site. Obtain a copy of the vaccine administration record from your wife's medical record so that you can provide the CDC with the lot number, etc. from the vaccine and so that you can attempt to find out if that lot of vaccine has had a higher incidence of adverse effects. If it is a known lot of vaccine that should have been recalled and wasn't, then the hospital would be liable for not returning the vial to the manufacturer and for the directly related damages to the patient.

Check the web for any class action suits against the manufacturer of the vaccine.

Best wishes, and don't let this spoil the joy of a baby in the home!
EC