Bean v. United States

533 F. Supp. 567, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17046
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedAugust 19, 1980
DocketCiv. A. No. 79-F-571
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 533 F. Supp. 567 (Bean v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bean v. United States, 533 F. Supp. 567, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17046 (D. Colo. 1980).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

SHERMAN G. FINESILVER, District Judge:

BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW OF THE CASE

On November 16, 1976, plaintiff Ellen Bean, age sixty-two and a resident of Jef[570]*570ferson County, Colorado, received a swine flu vaccination administered pursuant to the National Swine Flu Immunization Program of 1976. The program was designed to inoculate the country’s adult population against the threat of a swine flu epidemic. Shortly after her vaccination, in December, 1976, plaintiff developed an illness known as drop foot. At the time of trial, plaintiff still suffered from this condition which requires her to wear a brace on her left foot in order to walk properly.

In this suit, brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act1, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2671 et seq., it is claimed that the defendant, United States, is liable to Mrs. Bean for her illness. Plaintiff seeks recovery based on theories of negligence, strict liability, breach of warranty, and failure to adequately warn her of possible adverse reactions to the vaccine. The government contends that there is no causal connection between the vaccination and her condition, and that even if a causal relation is proven, that plaintiff cannot establish any theory of recovery which would render defendant liable.

The questions presented are whether plaintiff’s drop foot was caused by the vaccination, and if so, is defendant liable; also present is the issue of the adequacy of the warning given to plaintiff. On these pivotal issues, we find in favor of defendant, United States of America.

I.

PRETRIAL MATTERS

THE JUDICIAL PANEL ON MULTIDIS-TRICT LITIGATION

The action was filed on May 14,1979. On June 20, 1979, it was transferred by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for coordinated and consolidated pretrial proceedings pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407.

A substantial portion of plaintiff’s brief is addressed to the issue of whether in the Fall of 1976 the possibility of a swine flu epidemic posed a threat to the general population of the United States. The justification for the program, however, is not in issue. During consolidated pretrial proceedings, the transferee court, in ruling on a motion for summary judgment filed by the United States, held that:

[T]he following decisions and actions are covered by the exemption to the Federal Tort Claims Act set forth at 28 U.S.C. § 2680(a)2 and may not be a predicate for liability in these cases:
a. The decision to establish a National Swine Flu Immunization Program.
b. The decision to suspend the program on December 16, 1976, and the timing thereof.
c. The decision to resume the program on a limited basis in February 1977.

See, Stipulation and Final Pretrial Order, In Re Swine Flu Immunization Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 330, Misc. No. 78-0040, p. 2, 89 F.R.D. 695 (D.D.C. Nov. 15, 1979).

The Order also limits the litigants to local discovery only as distinguished from national discovery. Over seventy depositions were taken during the course of national discovery. Several of those were introduced in evidence in this case.

The case was remanded to this Court on December 21, 1979; a supplemental pretrial conference was held on May 1,1980. Issues of liability and damages were bifurcated. A non-jury trial3 on the issue of liability [571]*571followed. This Opinion and Order resolves the liability issue.

The following are the facts established at trial and our conclusions of law. We highlight conflicts in the testimony.

II.

THE NATIONAL SWINE FLU IMMUNIZATION PROGRAM

The Swine Flu Act of 1976 was an attempt by the Federal Government to inoculate the entire adult population of the United States against the threat of a swine flu epidemic. It was the largest immunization program in this country’s history and over forty-five million Americans — or one-third of the adult population — were vaccinated. The initial vaccination was on October 1, 1976; and the program was suspended on December 16, 1976.4 The program, for which $135 million was initially appropriated by Congress, called for using both private and public health care systems to achieve its goal of inoculating the entire adult population by the end of November, 1976. The November deadline was critical since the season of intense flu transmission in the United States is generally considered to be September through.March. See, The Swine Flu Program: An Unprecedented Venture In Preventive Medicine, Report to Congress by the Comptroller General of The United States, June 27, 1977.

The Swine Flu Act became law on August 12, 1976 and was applicable to all swine flu inoculations administered after September 30, 1976. Important provisions of the Act include the following:

1. The Act creates a cause of action against the United States for any personal injury or wrongful death sustained as a result of the swine flu inoculation resulting from the act or omission of a program participant5 upon any theory of liability that would govern in an action against-such program participant including negligence, strict liability in tort, and breach of warranty; 42 U.S.C. § 247b(k)(2)(A);
2. It makes that cause of action the exclusive remedy (42 U.S.C. § 247b(k)(3)) and abolishes the cause of action against the vaccine manufacturer; and
3. It makes the procedures of the Federal Tort Claims Act applicable to suits brought pursuant to the Swine Flu Act (42 U.S.C. § 247b(k)).

The program was prompted in part by the medical discovery in early February, 1976 at Fort Dix, New Jersey, of military servicemen having a new strain of influenza virus antigenically6 related to the virus prevalent [572]*572during the 1918-19 swine flu pandemic. That pandemic was responsible for 20 million deaths worldwide, including 500,000 in the United States alone. Prior to 1930, this strain was the predominant cause of influenza in the United States. Since 1930, the virus had been limited to transmisson among swine only with occasional transmission from swine to human, with no secondary person-to-person transmission.7

In addition, the Swine Flu Act was prompted by the collapse of the commercial liability insurance market, both for vaccine manufacturers and other program participants. The cases of Davis v. Wyeth Laboratories, Inc., 399 F.2d 121 (9th Cir. 1968), and Reyes v. Wyeth Laboratories,

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Bluebook (online)
533 F. Supp. 567, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17046, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bean-v-united-states-cod-1980.