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Hepatitis B vaccine and ME/CFS - US court case

charles shepherd

Senior Member
Messages
2,239
Hepatitis B vaccine and CFS: US court case

Does anyone in America have any further information as to what is happening in the case below - where there was going to be a challenge in the the US Supreme Court to the decision by the US Court of Appeals to overturn the compensation award

You can email me at: meconnect@meassociation.org.uk

Thanks
Dr Charles Shepherd

Parents of Vaccine Injury Victim Petition Supreme Court to Decide Proper Standard for Victim Compensation
Back in 2001, ten-year-old Ilya Dobrydnev received a vaccination for hepatitis B. Following the vaccination, he experienced a fever, swollen lymph nodes, inflammation of his inner ear and ultimately severe loss of memory. Now an adult, Mr. Dobrydnev suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome.

Because of Mr. Dobrydnev’s injuries, his parents filed a claim in vaccine court, which is part of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, a no-fault system designed to compensate vaccine injury victims and to limit the liability of vaccine manufacturers. The vaccine court awarded Mr. Dobrydnev’s parents $1 million, as well as annual payments for his ongoing medical care. The United States Department of Justice challenged the vaccine court’s decision, and the United States Court of Appeals overturned the award. Even though Mr. Dobrydnev’s parents presented experts to the vaccine court who opined that the hepatitis B vaccine caused Mr. Dobrydnev’s chronic fatigue syndrome, the court of appeals held that Mr. Dobrydnev’s case did not satisfy the standard for vaccine injury compensation.

As a result of the Court of Appeals decision, Mr. Dobrydnev’s parents have filed a petition with the United States Supreme Court, claiming that the Court of Appeals used the wrong standard for determining the proper amount of compensation for vaccine injury victims. The Supreme Court will now decide whether to consider the case. Please continue to follow our Blog for updates on vaccine injury cases.

The Wisconsin vaccine injury lawyers of Samster, Konkel & Safran, S.C. have helped many people receive compensation for vaccine injuries. Since the vaccine court was created in 1986, the court has awarded a total of $2.9 billion to approximately 3,900 vaccine injury victims. If you or someone you know has suffered a vaccine-related injury, contact us for a free online case evaluation.



http://www.skslawyers.com/injuryAttorneyNewsCases.asp?article=Parents of Vaccine Injury Victim Petition Supreme Court to Decide Proper Standard for Victim Compensation&aid=614&id=8
 
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Ecoclimber

Senior Member
Messages
1,011
I sent information to @charles shepherd concerning this case. On Appeal. The petition for writ of certiorari, [14-868], filed on 01/16/2015, was Denied on 03/23/2015. The Court of Appeal's decision was stayed. Case overturned.
 

Snow Leopard

Hibernating
Messages
5,902
Location
South Australia
So wait, it was overturned as they believed they were giving out too much money? How much is a life of severe illness "worth"?

I had severe symptoms less than a few weeks after a vaccination when I was 15 (severe lower limb weakness - acute flaccid paralysis- GBS like symptoms), but doctors refused to investigate properly or report it as an adverse effect and Australia lacks a compensation scheme. At the time we just assumed I would get better. Many years later, I know differently.
 

Kati

Patient in training
Messages
5,497
i am very sorry, @Snow Leopard

I know many who have contracted the illness following immunization.

Unfortunately, physicians are programed to believe that immunization is safe. And they would all prefer to say that those reporting adverse reactions to vaccines are catastrophizing, making it up, or it simply happened at around the same time but could not possibly be linked.

Lot of money is linked to vaccinations, and pharma makes sure to entertain physicians and to provide them with 'incentives'.

I hope things change.
 

Snow Leopard

Hibernating
Messages
5,902
Location
South Australia
Unfortunately, physicians are programed to believe that immunization is safe. And they would all prefer to say that those reporting adverse reactions to vaccines are catastrophizing, making it up, or it simply happened at around the same time but could not possibly be linked. .

In Australia, there was recently a review - they are now linking family welfare payments and childcare accessibility to having a full vaccination schedule - it is basically no longer a matter of choice. Sure, maintaining herd immunity is important. But while there is benefit to society, there are costs to a few individuals who have adverse reactions. Sadly they passed the changes without adopting a no-fault compensation scheme. Despite the fact that most public health experts explicitly proposed one and asked why Australia is the exception in the developed world?

http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/89/5/10-081901/en/
 

Thomas

Senior Member
Messages
325
Location
Canada
In Australia, there was recently a review - they are now linking family welfare payments and childcare accessibility to having a full vaccination schedule - it is basically no longer a matter of choice. Sure, maintaining herd immunity is important. But while there is benefit to society, there are costs to a few individuals who have adverse reactions. Sadly they passed the changes without adopting a no-fault compensation scheme. Despite the fact that most public health experts explicitly proposed one and asked why Australia is the exception in the developed world?

http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/89/5/10-081901/en/
It was a flu shot that triggered my ME. Sudden onset 10 days after receiving it although I began to feel unwell immediately after. A day that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

By the way, it's not just Australia; Canada does not have a compensation system for vaccine injured individuals either.
 

charles shepherd

Senior Member
Messages
2,239
I think no fault compensation in a situation like this - where a vaccination such as hepatitis B is being almost forced on people as a condition of employment, or where welfare payments are linked to compliance - is the only logical solution

Here in the UK we have the Vaccine Damage Payments Scheme- but it comes with quite a few hurdles to jump and exceptions:

https://www.gov.uk/vaccine-damage-payment/eligibility

Having helped a number of health workers who predate the onset of their ME/CFS to HBV it is unacceptable to then find that the UK VDPS does not include serious adverse reactions caused by HBV. And it has proved impossible to get a satisfactory explanation as to why.

I am currently working with the BBC on a programme that will be looking at vaccine damage compensation
 

HowToEscape?

Senior Member
Messages
626
If the miniscule amount of weakened hep B in the vax caused someone to crash, the vastly (billions) of times larger amount from catching the disease would have been much worse.
 

halcyon

Senior Member
Messages
2,482
If the miniscule amount of weakened hep B in the vax caused someone to crash, the vastly (billions) of times larger amount from catching the disease would have been much worse.
I doubt it's the HBV that does it. It's probably the effects of the adjuvant on the immune system combined with a preexisting subclinical or proximal subsequent infection with another virus that leads to ME in those cases. Basically, bad luck or bad timing.
 

Thomas

Senior Member
Messages
325
Location
Canada
I doubt it's the HBV that does it. It's probably the effects of the adjuvant on the immune system combined with a preexisting subclinical or proximal subsequent infection with another virus that leads to ME in those cases. Basically, bad luck or bad timing.
Completely agree. And that's what happened to me with the flu shot as I received it while also fighting a minor infection but the doctor administered it anyway.

I often wonder if I and others would have gotten ME anyways just via a different route? Again, a question that will haunt me for eternity.
 

Mij

Messages
2,353
Questions for those who received Hep B during an infection.

Did you start feeling less energy or neurological symptoms after the 1st shot? Did you continue to have the 2nd and 3rd shots thereafter? Did you have a booster shot?

I had the Hep B shots (plus 2 other immunizations) during a viral infection. After the 2nd shot is when my energy level declined rapidly. I decided not to have the final 3rd shot of Hep B because I was too ill by then. I'm thankful I made that decision.
 

charles shepherd

Senior Member
Messages
2,239
Having had a clinical and research interest in the role of vaccines in triggering ME/CFS, or exacerbating pre-existing ME/CFS, hepatitis B vaccine in health workers in particular, dating back many years I now have information on a considerable number of cases - probably more than any other doc here in the UK

What Mij says is relevant because I have a small number of people with ME/CFS who give a history of feeling unwell after the first HB vaccination (but nothing too serious), and have then gone on to predate the onset of their ME/CFS symptoms to the second or third dose. In some instances they had been persuaded/co-erced to carry on with the course (for occupational health reasons) and had also been reassured by a health professional that while HBV can cause minor side-effects it would not cause serious side-effects

It is possible that HBV was therefore given to someone who had a low level infection (and vaccines should not normally be given if there is an infection) or the mild reaction to the first reaction was an indicator that something more serious was going to happen following the second or third infection

For the vast majority of people HBV is a safe and very effective way of providing protection against a potentially life threatening liver disease. I would not want to dissuade anyone who is healthy from having it (including members of my own family)

But HBV does appear to play a very disproportionate role in triggering ME/CFS - suggesting that there is something rather unusual about either the vaccine or one of its additives (which used to include thiomersil in some HBV products)

More questions than answers…….
 

Thomas

Senior Member
Messages
325
Location
Canada
@charles shepherd indeed more questions than answers. Having said that, I have a question.

Are you familiar with Prof Yehuda Schoenfeld's work on this particular topic and his ASIA Syndrome? If so, is there a way to differentiate that syndrome from a vaccine induced case of ME? In Israel where he works, where I also have family friends, they seem to separate ASIA from ME although to me they seem remarkably similar. Do you have any thoughts on this?