Swine f lu jab ‘led to suicide’

A CORONER warned a swine flu jab is likely to have caused a sleep disorder that led to a young woman killing herself after becoming depressed.

Narcolepsy meant that Katie Clack, 23, slept for up to 19 hours a day.

She jumped to her death in 2014, five years after being given the vaccine.

Miss Clack had not wanted the Pandemrix jab, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), but it was required for her job as a nursery nurse, the inquest in Stamford, Lincolnshire, heard.

Coroner Paul Cooper recorded a narrative verdict on Wednesday, saying studies showed ‘significantly raised odds of narcolepsy after [being given the] Pandemrix vaccine in those aged 18 and above’. Mr Cooper added: ‘It seems most likely that receipt of this vaccine in December 2009 caused Miss Clack’s narcolepsy.’

Peterborough-based Miss Clack’s case was ‘complex and very rare’, he said.

A statement from Miss Clack’s family said: ‘Katie was an energetic young woman who had just discovered her passion working with children.

‘Narcolepsy turned her life into a terrible daily struggle and drastically reduced her quality of life.’

Pandemrix was given to high-risk groups, such as children or people with asthma, diabetes and heart disease, at the height of the 2009/10 swine flu pandemic.

A class action was launched by lawyers on behalf of 38 Britons, including 19 children, in 2013 when they developed narcolepsy following the vaccination.

Earlier this year a boy who began showing symptoms of narcolepsy after being vaccinated against swine flu was awarded £120,000 in damages. Narcolepsy affects about 31,000 in Britain.

GSK said in a statement yesterday: ‘Our sincere condolences go to Miss Clack’s family for their loss.’

A Department of Health spokesman said that in 2009 and 2010, when Pandemrix was used, ‘the possible association with narcolepsy was not known’.