A class action against the manufacturer of the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil – which is distributed by company CSL in Australia – is being led by a 28-year-old Melbourne-based woman, Naomi Snell.

Snell is leading the class action against the Gardasil manufacturer, Merck, after having suffered an auto-immune and neurological attack, following the first jab of the vaccine in July 2008.

Going by the information shared by Snell, the first injection of Gardasil vaccine made her life come to a standstill for over two years. She not only lost her ability to walk, but had also to put up with neck pain and crippling back, as well as suffered convulsions.

Further adding that she had no clue at all that her condition was attributable to the Gardasil vaccine, Snell said that she got the second and third dose administered too. The bewildered doctors initially diagnosed her with multiple sclerosis, only to later retract their diagnosis and reveal that it was “a neurological reaction to the vaccine.”

Via the class action, Snell is now seeking compensation for loss of income and medical expenses.

With a view to join the court case against Merck, seven other Victorian women have complained that the Gardasil vaccine – which, under a federal government campaign, is administered free to Australian women aged between
12 to 26 years – was the cause behind their reported anaphylaxis and physical breakdowns, and even a miscarriage in one of the cases!