Opinion ID: 1003698
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: In re Sabin

Text: While the Callahan case was winding its way through the Missouri court system, multi-district Orimune cases filed against the United States government under the Federal Tort Claims Act were transferred to the District of Maryland for resolution of the common legal and factual questions. See In re Sabin Oral Polio Vaccine Prod. Liab. Litig., 774 F. Supp. 952 (D. Md. 1991); In re Sabin Oral Polio Vaccine Prod. Liab. Litig., 763 F. Supp. 811 (D. Md. 1991); In re Sabin Oral Polio Vaccine Prod. Liab. Litig., 743 F. Supp. 410 (D. Md. 1990). The plaintiffs in the In re Sabin cases contracted polio after receiving a Type III Orimune vaccine or after coming into contact with a recipient of the Type III vaccine. They sued the government, alleging, inter alia, that the National Institute of Health’s Division of Biologic Standards negligently issued a license to Lederle Laboratories (a subsidiary of American Cyanamid) to manufacture the vaccine and improperly approved vaccine that did not meet the neurovirulence standards set forth in the governing regulations. The district court ultimately concluded that the government violated the governing regulations and was negligent in approving certain vaccine seeds and the release of lots derived therefrom and that its negligence was a proximate cause of the injuries suffered by the plaintiffs, who received or were exposed to vaccines from lots derived from the improperly approved seeds. See 774 F. Supp. at 957-58; 763 F. Supp. at 821-25. The district court’s Sabin opinions were affirmed by this Court on appeal. See In re Sabin Oral Polio Vaccine Prod. Liab. Litig., 984 F.2d 124 (4th Cir. 1993) (per curiam). The Orimune vaccine received by Danny Callahan was derived from one of the vaccine seeds that ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY v. UNITED STATES 5 the In re Sabin cases concluded were improperly approved by the government.