The Government’s decision to provide a full indemnity to the makers of the swine flu vaccine, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) makes it morally responsible to provide proper compensation for those affected, a healthcare Lawyer said today.
Speaking today, Liam Moloney Solicitor said “Parents whose children have been diagnosed as suffering from Narcolepsy have no choice but to take legal action to protect their childrens futures. Many parents simply do not have the financial resources to do so and such cases will take years to finalise”. He added “as the HSE bought these vaccines the Government should immediately set up a no fault compensation scheme to properly compensate victims. Parents should not have to take on the huge additional pressures associated with uncertain litigation”.
900,000 doses of Pandemrix were administered at HSE clinics and by GPs in 2009 and 2010. The swine flu vaccine has now been withdrawn from use and unused samples of it face destruction before the end of 2011.
The HSE has confirmed that since August 2010 a number of cases of narcolepsy have been reported in Ireland. The HSE has said it has not yet been determined if the vaccine could have contributed to the development of the condition and said that work is ongoing to find out “if there a true association between the vaccine and the disease” with the results expected later this year.
Mr Moloney continued “narcolepsy is difficult to diagnose although it is accurately identified much more often now than it was decades ago. In many cases diagnosis is not made until many years after the onset of symptoms. Parents should be given every assistance by the HSE to include interims payments to ensure the best treatment options for their children”.
For further information:
Contact: Liam Moloney
045 898000
