AstraZeneca is admitting for the first time in court documents that its Covid vaccine can cause a rare side effect

AstraZeneca has admitted for the first time in court documents that its Covid vaccine can cause a rare side effect, in an apparent turnaround that could pave the way for a multi-million pound legal award.

The pharmaceutical giant has been sued in a class action over claims that its vaccine, developed with Oxford University, has caused deaths and serious injuries in dozens of cases.

Advocates say the vaccine produced a side effect that had a devastating effect on a small number of families, according to news.yahoo.com

The first case was filed last year by father-of-two Jamie Scott, who was left with permanent brain damage after developing a blood clot and hemorrhage on the brain that prevented him from working after receiving the vaccine in April 2021. The hospital called his wife three times to tell her that her husband was going to die.

AstraZeneca disputes the allegations but accepted in a legal document filed at the High Court in February that its Covid vaccine “may, in very rare cases, cause TTS”.

TTS – the acronym for Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome – causes people to have blood clots and a low number of platelets in the blood.

Fifty-one cases were brought to the High Court, with victims and grieving relatives seeking compensation estimated to be worth up to £100m.

The admission by AstraZeneca – made as part of a legal defense to Mr Scott’s High Court summons – follows an intense legal dispute. This could lead to payouts if the drug company accepts that the vaccine was the cause of serious illness and death in certain legal cases. The government has agreed to cover AstraZeneca’s legal costs.

In a response letter sent in May 2023, AstraZeneca told Mr Scott’s lawyers that “we do not accept that TTS is caused by the vaccine at the generic level”.

But in a legal document filed at the High Court in February, AstraZeneca said: “Not true: “It is admitted that the AZ vaccine can, in very rare cases, cause TTS. The causal mechanism is not known.

Moreover, TTS can also occur in the absence of the AZ vaccine (or any other vaccine). Causation in any individual case will be a matter to be proved by experts.”

Lawyers claim the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is “faulty” and that its effectiveness was “greatly overrated” – claims that AstraZeneca strongly denies.

Scientists first identified a link between the vaccine and a new disease called vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VIT) as early as March 2021, shortly after the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine began.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers argue that VITT is a subset of TTS, although AstraZeneca does not appear to recognize this term.

The government has indemnified AstraZeneca against any legal action, but has so far declined to intervene.

Kate Scott, Mr Scott’s wife, told the Telegraph: “The medical world has long recognized that VITT was caused by the vaccine. Only AstraZeneca questioned that Jamie’s condition was caused by the vaccine. It took three years for this recognition to come. It is progress, but we would like to see more from them and the Government. I hope that their admission means that we will be able to solve this problem sooner rather than later. We need an apology right for our family and for other families who have been affected. We have the truth on our side and we will not give up.”

“Patient safety is our highest priority”

Sarah Moore, partner at law firm Leigh Day, which filed the legal complaints, said: “It took a year for AstraZeneca to officially admit that their vaccine can cause devastating blood clots, when this fact was widely accepted by the clinical community as early as late 2021. In this context, it seems , unfortunately, that AZ, the government and their lawyers are more willing to play strategic games and rack up legal fees than to seriously engage with the devastating impact their AZ vaccine has had on our customers’ lives.”

In a statement, AstraZeneca said: “As for AstraZeneca: “Our sympathies go out to all those who have lost loved ones or reported health problems. Patient safety is our highest priority and regulators have clear and strict standards to ensure safe use of all medicines, including vaccines From the body of evidence from clinical trials and real-world data, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine has been consistently shown to have an acceptable safety profile, and regulatory authorities around the world state in consistently that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects.”

The company points out that the product information for the vaccine was updated in April 2021, with UK regulatory approval, to include “the possibility that the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is capable, in very rare cases, of being a trigger for” STT.

The company is denying claims it has pulled off a turnaround, admitting the vaccine can cause TTS in court filings.

Independent studies show that AstraZeneca’s vaccine has been incredibly effective in fighting the pandemic, saving more than six million lives worldwide in the first year since its launch.

The World Health Organization stated that the vaccine was “safe and effective for all people aged 18 and over” and the adverse effect that prompted the legal action was “rarely”.

The vaccine – presented at the launch by Boris Johnson as a “triumph of British science” – no longer used in the UK.

In the months after its launch, the potentially serious side effect of the injection was identified by scientists. It was then recommended that people under 40 should be offered an alternative shot because the risk of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweighed the harmful effects of Covid.

Lawyers representing the families who sued the pharmaceutical company say the vaccine was not as safe as people expected. They are suing the Cambridge-based firm under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

Mr Scott’s lawyers argued that he had suffered “personal injury and subsequent loss as a result of having suffered vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia (VIT) as a result of his vaccination on 23 April 2021 with AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine”.

Official figures from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) show that at least 81 deaths in the UK are suspected to be linked to the adverse reaction which caused clotting in people who also had low platelets in their blood.

In total, almost one in five people with the condition died from it, according to MHRA figures.

The government runs its own vaccine compensation scheme, but alleged victims say the £120,000 one-off payment is insufficient.

Figures obtained following an Access to Information request show that of the 163 payments made by the government up to February this year, at least 158 ​​went to recipients of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The Vaccine Injury Payment Scheme provides compensation to those who have been injured by vaccines or their grieving next of kin. Fewer than five people benefiting from this program received vaccines other than AstraZeneca.

AstraZeneca previously argued in court filings that the claims against the company are “confusing” and “legally wrong”. In its defense filing, AstraZeneca said the benefit/risk profile of the vaccine was and remains positive.

AstraZeneca is the UK’s second largest listed company with a market capitalization of over £170 billion. Its chief executive, Sir Pascal Soriot, is the highest-paid boss among FTSE 100 companies, with revenues of almost £19m.