A medical practice in Britain has accepted that a 26-year-old man who died due to a “rare but recognised” complication of the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine was not told the correct risks.
Jack Hurn, originally from Devon in Southwest England, died two weeks after taking the AstraZeneca jab, with coroner for Birmingham, Emma Brown, ruling in 2022 that the young man was “not given all of the information to make an informed choice.”
The automotive design graduate passed away in June 2021, less than a fortnight after he had received the AstraZeneca vaccine earlier that month. An inquest previously heard that the design graduate was told there was no Pfizer vaccine in stock and was given out of date information regarding the risk of blood clots associated with the AstraZeneca jab.
NHS guidance at the time was for patients under 40 to be offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine – however they could make ‘an informed choice’ to receive it.
Tragically, Mr Hurn died from “catastrophic” blood clots on his brain, with the official Coroner’s report recognising that: “Death was due to a rare but recognised complication of the Astra Zeneca COVID19 vaccination.”
The report detailed how Mr Hurn died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on the 11th June, 2021. He had received a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccination for COVID-19 on the 29th of May 2021.
Anchor Medical Practice, an NHS GP Practice in the market town of Dudley has admitted a breach of duty but has not accepted liability for Mr Hurn’s death. His family have brought legal action against the doctor practice – and say that the decision to vaccinate that day destroyed their lives.
The local Primary Care Network ran the vaccination centre, and the lead practice was Anchor Medical Practice. Anchor Medical Practice did not administer the vaccine.
Mr Hurn, a Coventry University graduate, had driven with his girlfriend from their home to the Dudley centre on 29th May 2021 for the Covid vaccine. They were both vaccinated on that date.
Mr Hurn’s girlfriend Alex Jones told the BBC that the couple were not informed about the seriousness of the side effects.
“It was not made clear to us that it was fatal and the blood clots were on the brain. That would have made a difference to us,” she said.
Speaking about the aftermath of her boyfriend’s sudden death, she said: “I think about getting married and having children. I am starting again because of what has been taken away from me.
“I don’t think they understand. How can we get on with our lives now that Jack has gone?”
His mother Tracey Hurn said: “His last words were ‘I am scared, I am scared’. We have to live with that for the rest of our lives. Our son was terrified.”
Writing on social media last month, Ms Hurn said that the family’s “whole world fell apart” and that “trying to pick up the pieces each day since you were so cruelly taken has been completely unbearable.”
She described her late son as “a truly special person, one of a kind,” with a “kind, loving heart.”
“I so miss your evening calls on your way home from work, your wonderful smile and your kind, loving heart, your thoughtfulness, always putting others before yourself, even when your life was ebbing away,” she wrote.
“You would have been married to the love of your life by now and who knows, may have started your own little family that you were so looking forward to. My heart is forever broken, irreparable, the tears fall as frequently now as they did three years ago on that terrible day.”
Reacting to the news in May that AstraZeneca was withdrawing its Covid vaccine worldwide, with the company saying the decision was purely a commercial one, Ms Hurn said that if the British government had withdrawn the jab, her son would be alive today.
“Finally, after causing so many injuries and deaths but far too late for our darling boy. If the MHRA and the Government had done what they should have done like many other European countries and stopped using it, our Son would be alive living his life and we wouldn’t be in this continuous nightmare day in day out with no way out,” she wrote.
The Coroner’s report noted that at that time the Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation had advised that it was preferable for adults aged under 40 years without underlying health conditions to be offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine unless that would cause substantial delay “but people could make an informed choice to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine to receive earlier protection.”
The Coroner found that Jack “was not given all the information to make an informed choice at the time of giving his consent to the vaccine. In particular, the risk of complications for his age group was understated.”
Coroner Emma Brown detailed how on June 6th, Mr Hurn developed a headache which “persisted and worsened” leading to him being admitted to the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch on June 8th.
Imaging revealed extensive superior sagittal sinus thrombosis and he was diagnosed with Vaccine-Induced Immune Thrombocytopenia and Thrombosis (‘VITT’): a “new but extremely serious condition caused by a rare complication of the AstraZeneca vaccine.”
Following diagnosis, Mr Hurn was admitted to a medical unit, but he was not referred to a specialist neurology and haematology team in accordance with guidance on the management of VITT CVST and the regional VITT pathway.
It went on to state that the young man’s condition deteriorated on the afternoon of June 9th, and at approximately 6pm that evening, his Glasgow Coma Score had dropped to 11/5 and he had developed dense right hemiplegia, with imaging showing the extension of the thrombosis and new areas of thrombosis and haemorrhage. His care was then transferred to specialist services at the hospital. Despite “full supportive measures,” his condition deteriorated and became unsurvivable.
“Death was due to a rare but recognised complication of the Astra Zeneca COVID19 vaccination,” the Coroner concluded.
In a letter sent to Mr Hurn’s family’s lawyers and seen by the BBC, lawyers representing the NHS practice said: “It is admitted that Jack was told the risk magnitude was one in 250,000 in respect of clotting when the actual risk magnitude for his age group was one in 50,000.
“It is admitted that the failure to provide the correct risk magnitude for blood clots at the time of obtaining Jack’s consent was a breach of duty.”
The lawyers said Mr Hurn had driven 45 minutes for the vaccine and was keen to get on with his life.
“It is for the claimant to prove that Jack would have refused the vaccination had the correct risk magnitude been communicated to him, so we make no admissions in that regard,” they said.
Dr Sandhu, of Anchor Medical Practice, said in a statement: “Our deepest condolences are with Jack’s friends and family following his tragic death. We are in legal conversations, so it is hard to comment in full on the background.”
“Part of the vaccine programme was delivered by Dudley and Netherton Primary Care Network (PCN). Anchor Medical Practice was the lead practice for the PCN at the time of the vaccination programme.
“This could explain why Anchor Medical Practice is named as the defendant in this case, as PCNs are not legal entities in the same way that a practice is.
“The vaccination programme was not solely the responsibility of Anchor Medical Practice and it was not the location of the vaccination clinics.
“This was a joint enterprise carried out by Dudley and Netherton PCN. The clinicians working at the centre, based at Revival Fires, on the day of the vaccination in question were from across the PCN practices.”