On August 11, the Kroger Company filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed against them by the parents of a teenage boy who received an undiluted COVID-19 vaccine dose at a Parkersburg, West Virginia store.
The company claims that federal and state laws make them immune from liability.
The motion was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia to dismiss the case, citing the federal Public Readiness and Emergency Preparation Act, which “provides broad immunity for manufacturers, distributors and health care providers in lawsuits involving pandemic countermeasures after a declaration of a public health emergency,” according to newsandsentinel.
In June 2021, the child of John and Maria Louden of Davisville received a second dose of the Pfizer Covid vaccine.
Maria Louden was contacted later that day by a pharmacist who said the student-employee who administered the vaccine had done so without diluting it, reported newsandsentinel.
The complaint said that the result of the undiluted vaccine meant that it was a dosage of more than five times the recommended amount causing the teen to suffer from high fever, severe nausea, headaches, body aches, and dizziness.
A memorandum of law in support of the motion to dismiss says the P.R.E.P Act renders entites such as retail pharmacies “immune from suit and liability under federal and state law with respect to all claims for loss caused by, arising out of, relating to or resulting from the administration to or the use by an individual of a covered countermeasure,” according to newsandsentinel.
It also cites West Virginia’s COVID-19 Jobs Protection Act and prohibits lawsuits against “any person, business, entity, health care facility or provider, first responder or volunteer for loss, damage, physical injury or death arising from COVID-19, COVID-19 health care or impacted health care.”
An attorney representing the Loudens said a response to the filing would be filed soon in court.