Dozens of patients and families are launching legal action against AstraZeneca over a rare side effect of its covid-19 vaccine, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) reports.
The cases were lodged by the families of 19 people who died after being vaccinated with the Covid-19 jab, and 54 patients who suffered severe reactions but survived.
The BMJ said that some of those injured by the vaccine and who had survived were left with “catastrophic injuries” following blood clots.
In 2021, “the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in Britain confirmed a possible link between the vaccine, known as Vaxzevria, and a rare condition involving blood clots along with abnormally low platelet levels. Those taking legal action have been diagnosed with vaccine induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia,” the BMJ reported.
British regulators say that: “All vaccines being used in the UK have undergone robust clinical trials and have met the MHRA’s strict standards of safety, effectiveness and quality”.
While millions in Britain have taken Covid-19 vaccines without suffering complications, a new study, published in Nature Communications this week, found “there was evidence of an increase in cardiac death in young women after a first dose of non-mRNA vaccines, with the risk being 3.5 times higher in the 12 weeks following vaccination, compared with the longer-term risk.”
The study by the Office of National Statistics pointed out that “no significant increase in cardiac or all-cause mortality in the 12 weeks following COVID-19 vaccination compared with more than 12 weeks after any dose for the study population as a whole”.
There have been complaints that those who have been injured by a Covid-19 vaccine had found it difficult to access compensation.
Peter Todd, a consultant solicitor, who is assisting families in lodging legal actions told the BMJ that the complications included stroke, heart failure, and leg amputations.
Mr Todd’s law firm, Scott-Moncrieff & Associates, say they are acting “for a large group of Claimants in a claim against Astra Zeneca seeking damages for injury (thrombosis with thrombocytopenia) caused by the Astra Zeneca Covid vaccine”.
“The claim is being pursued on a no-fault basis under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 on the basis that the vaccine was a defective product in that it was not as safe as consumers generally were reasonably entitled to expect,” they say.
“The Claimants in the group all suffered serious injury from blood clots caused by the vaccine including fatal injury, clots in the brain, lungs, heart, limbs and throughout the body. This caused strokes, seizures, cardiac arrests, amputations of limbs and other severe injuries.”
“The manufacturers were indemnified by the UK government against such claims because of the lack of thorough testing of the product and the risk of such events.”
Mr Todd told news platform i that in Britain, up to 23 November, 2022, “there had been 445 reports of major blood clots (thrombosis) with concurrent low platelets (thrombocytopenia) reported after AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, including, tragically, 81 deaths”.
“These include strokes, heart attacks, amputations and other major life-changing injuries. This is an unusually large number of very serious injuries to have been caused by a vaccine. We expect to be able to establish in court that these clots were likely caused by the vaccine,” he said.
i news reported that:
Mr Todd, who acted for 86 people with narcolepsy as a result of the 2009 pandemic swine flu vaccine, added: “We have started an action against AstraZeneca UK Ltd seeking damages for injury and consequential loss for a group so far comprised of 77 such claimants, under the Consumer Protection Act 1987, contending that the vaccine was not as safe as the public were entitled to expect.
“This is not about fault but about the reasonable expectation of safety. People were told that the vaccine was safe and they relied on such statements at face value. However they have suffered life-changing injury. The Government agreed to indemnify Astra Zeneca against these claims and we call upon the Government to appropriately support the vaccine injured and bereaved as well.”
In Britain, there have been complaints that families of people who died or those who suffered severe reactions to Covid-19 vaccines feel they are being ignored, as investigations and payments appeared to be seriously delayed.
This mirrors the experience of those injured by Covid-19 vaccines in the U.S, where an investigation by Maryanne Demasi for the British Medical Journal previously found that “America’s system for Covid vaccine injury claims is costly, opaque, and yet to issue a single payout”, though the situation seems to have improved in recent times.
In Ireland, however, no system has even been set up to assist people possibly harmed by vaccines and seeking compensation.
An expert group chaired by Mr Justice Charles Meenan in 2020 said that such a pathway or scheme should be introduced as a “matter of urgency”, but the government has not yet delivered on commitments.
Liam Moloney, an Irish solicitor whose firm represents a number of people who believe they have been left injured by vaccines told Irish Legal News that: “Many people who are suffering ongoing symptoms and illness following vaccination have been left in a very vulnerable position because of the lack of a comprehensive compensation scheme”.
He said:
“While vaccines are safe and have allowed us to resume normal life there can sometimes be very rare adverse reactions to them and many countries have established vaccine injury compensation schemes.”
“Vaccine compensation schemes encourage public confidence in vaccines and help reduce vaccine hesitancy. They also reduce the risk of costly, protracted and uncertain litigation for injured victims, vaccine manufacturers, the Irish State and the medical profession.”
“It is often only after many months of medical investigations that people are given a definite diagnosis of vaccine related illness. They are then forced to sue for compensation for pain and suffering, mental distress, medical care costs, loss of earnings and travel costs because there is no scheme.”
However, a British lawyer whose clients are now taking legal action said that the current scheme established there was taking too long and that the maximum payment of £120,000 was not sufficient after a death or the serious injury of a breadwinner for a family.
Sarah Moore, a partner in the Hausfeld law firm, told the BMJ: “We’ve been trying to get the government to reform their statutory scheme. We didn’t want to litigate but the government has forced us into a corner. The only way these families can get compensation is to fight the battle they didn’t want to fight.”
An AstraZeneca spokesperson said: “Patient safety is our highest priority and regulatory authorities have clear and stringent standards to ensure the safe use of all medicines, including vaccines. Our sympathy goes to anyone who has reported health problems.”
The company also said that the “benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects.”