$1.04 Million Verdict Against Defective Cattle Vaccine Maker

Chuck and Wanda Untiedt ran a dairy farm in southwestern Minnesota. Beginning in 1987, they vaccinated their herd with BRD Vac, a product sold by Grand Laboratories, Inc., a South Dakota company. The vaccine was supposed to be a killed-virus product. It was not.

After the cows and young stock received the vaccine, the herd's health collapsed. Stillbirths multiplied. Abortions increased. Animals developed respiratory illness. Breeding rates dropped sharply. Two veterinarians testified the herd had been healthy before the vaccination program began.

Testing by the National Veterinary Service Laboratory confirmed the cause: BRD Vac contained live BVD, IBR, and PI3 virus. The vaccine had never been federally licensed. Grand Laboratories manufactured it in a mobile semi-trailer laboratory, moving the rig from state to state to avoid federal oversight.

Doug Schmidt of the Sieben, Grose and Von Holtum firm in Minneapolis took the case for the Untiedts. After a five-week trial before Fifth District Judge David Christensen, the jury found the vaccine defective, concluded Grand Laboratories had not manufactured it using proper procedures, and separately found the company liable under Minnesota's consumer fraud statute.

The jury returned a verdict of $1,038,775. That figure exceeded the Untiedts' own experts' damages estimates. The court also awarded $366,584.24 in costs and attorney fees. The verdict was affirmed on appeal in December 1994 in case No. C4-94-772.