€990,000 for boy who says swine flu jab caused illness
A MEDIATOR in the High Court action of a 16-year-old boy who claimed he developed a rare sleep disorder after a swine flu jab has recommended a €990,000 award.
Last November, Benjamin Blackwell’s action was resolved in a groundbreaking settlement that will pave the way for the resolution of 80 cases that were due before the High Court over the Pandemrix vaccine .
The case had been put back so the amount of the settlement could be brought before the court.
It was agreed under the terms of settlement the teenager is to get 50pc of the settlement figure which the High
Court has heard in his case comes to €990,000. The Blackwell settlement was without an admission of liability.
Benjamin Blackwell claimed he contracted narcolepsy and cataplexy – an associated muscle weakness – after he received the Pandemrix vaccine at national school when he was five years old.
The landmark action was a test case for 80 other legal actions over the vaccine developed in response to the swine flu pandemic of 2009 and 2010.
This week Mr Justice Kevin Cross ruled the mediator’s award did not fall outside the range of what was reasonably open to him and should not be interfered with. However, the judge noted the mediator’s decision can, under the settlement, be appealed to a retired judge who will then decide on the matter. The judge will at a later date hear submissions from counsel as to how the parties want to proceed in relation to the mediator’s decision.
Mr Justice Cross said the seriousness of Benjamin’s condition is not in doubt and he fully accepted the details as to his condition as set out in the determination of the mediator and in submissions on his behalf.
The judge said the parties had entered into mediation as specified by the agreement and the mediator awarded a gross figure of €1.98m which netted down to a figure of €990,000.
The judge said Benjamin’s advisers are not satisfied with this award and applied to the court for a direction as to whether the offer should be accepted. He said the group settlement of such cases by parties under mediation as approved by the court is something to be warmly welcomed.
He said a settlement represents an enormous saving of court time and the costs on all sides would have been prohibitive if cases had to go ahead.
The settlement, the judge said, means the cases do not have to be litigated and the resulting trauma to the individual plaintiffs and their families is avoided.
Benjamin, of Fairyhouse Road, Ratoath, Co Meath, had, through his mother Natalie Blackwell, sued the Minister for Health, the HSE, and Glaxosmithkline Biologicals SA (GSK) – the producer of Pandemrix.
GSK was previously given an indemnity by the State concerning any adverse reactions to the vaccine.