Family Sues After Dangerous Flu Vaccine Causes Child to Become Severely Brain Damaged

by Christina England

A family in Perth, Australia, is seeking compensation from the pharmaceutical company CSL Limited. Their daughter Saba became severely disabled after she received the flu vaccine Fluvax in 2010. The family is suing CSL Limited for their daughter’s pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, profound disability, medical care and travel expenses, stating that Fluvax caused their daughter to become severely brain-damaged and almost completely blind.

Mr. and Mrs. Button say that their daughter received the influenza vaccine on April 19, 2010, and was later rushed to Princess Margaret Hospital, suffering from convulsions. Saba, now four, has been left quadriplegic and almost completely blind, and reports state that, three years later, she is stilling suffering from regular seizures and requires constant medical care.

Three Days Too Late

The Buttons’ case is being heard at the Federal Court, and if the family wins, they could receive Australia’s largest medical compensation payout of all time.

The West Australian reported on the story:

… CSL lawyer Belinda Thompson claimed Saba had two other shots, Neisvac and Priorix, on the same day and alleged they may have caused febrile convulsions and fever. 

Ms. Thompson said CSL was not required to do pre-marketing clinical studies for seasonal flu vaccines. She said her client was not told of at least 90 other children presented to Princess Margaret Hospital with adverse reactions – 19 of which involved seizures or convulsions – after receiving Fluvax between March 18 and April 15. 

She said the WA Health Department was formally notified of these cases on April 16. The flu campaign was suspended on April 22. 

The next day, the Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer advised the vaccine should not be given to children aged five and under. [1]

Later that year Fluvax was suspended and was finally banned completely for use in the under-five age group.

When a vaccine is banned from use on children of a certain age, one would expect that no more children of that age group would be vaccinated. However, this is not always the case, because on April 22, 2013, the Medical Observer reported that eleven children were ‘mistakenly’ vaccinated with the vaccine, including three in NSW. [2]

This is three full years after the vaccine was banned for use on children under the age of five.

On April 16, 2013, the Medical Observer stated that the estimated risk of febrile convulsions in young children after being vaccinated with CSL’s trivalent inactivated vaccine (Fluvax) was 3 –10 per 1000 children and that this vaccine is no longer registered for children under five in Australia, the US and the UK. [3]

Avoid Giving This Vaccine to Young Children, Says the CDC

In August 2010, the Centers for Disease Control sent out a very strong press release about this vaccine. They stated:

During the 2010 influenza season in Australia, administration of a 2010 Southern Hemisphere seasonal influenza trivalent inactivated vaccine (TIV) (Fluvax Junior and Fluvax) manufactured by CSL Biotherapies was associated with increased frequency of fever and febrile seizures in children aged 6 months through 4 years. Postmarketing surveillance indicated increased reports of fever in children aged 5-8 years after vaccination with Fluvax compared to previous seasons. An antigenically equivalent 2010-11 Northern Hemisphere seasonal influenza TIV (Afluria) manufactured by CSL Biotherapies is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for persons aged ≥6 months in the United States.[4]

I found the next section of their statement to be particularly interesting and I have to wonder how many parents are actually given this information before having their child vaccinated.

Prescribing information for the 2010-11 Afluria formulation includes a warning that ‘Administration of CSL’s Southern Hemisphere influenza vaccine has been associated with increased postmarketing reports of fever and febrile seizures in children predominantly below the age of 5 years as compared to previous years.’

The CDC stated that in the USA the flu vaccine is recommended for all persons from the age of six months plus. On August 5, 2010, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that the Afluria vaccine should also not be administered to children from ages six months to eight years. Instead, they should receive other licensed flu vaccinations. They said:

If no other age-appropriate, licensed inactivated seasonal influenza vaccine is available for a child aged 5-8 years who has a medical condition that increases their risk for influenza complications, Afluria can be used; however, providers should discuss with the parents or caregivers the benefits and risks of Afluria use before administering this vaccine to children aged 5-8 years.

So, how many vulnerable children are still being vaccinated without the complications being discussed with their parents? And why are these dangerous vaccines still being administered to children?

How Dangerous is the Flu?

In a paper she wrote titled “Health, Disease & Some History of Medicine,” homeopath and general practitioner Dr. Jayne Donegan said that most of Western medicine is based on the “germ theory.” She says that, according to the germ theory of disease, if you come into contact with bacterium or a virus, unless you have had it before and you are immune to it, you will catch the disease.

Donegan says that if the germ theory were true, then everyone on a bus that was carrying someone with flu would catch the flu, but they don’t. Instead, the only people who catch the flu are those who are prone or susceptible to catching it.

Donegan believes that catching diseases and illnesses is a good thing. She believes that children become susceptible to appropriate infectious diseases at an acceptable age, when their immune system needs to learn what to do and when they need a clean-out. She says that once they have been nursed through an illness successfully, their parents will often notice they develop new skills and abilities. [5]

Her paper is simply written and easy to understand, and a must-read for all parents contemplating vaccination.

The flu can be dangerous and can lead to life-threatening illnesses such as pneumonia. However, in general, most healthy humans can come through the flu quite easily with no ill effects. Most doctors recommend bed rest, plenty of fluids and Calpol/Paracetamol/Advil to reduce the fever.

In the 2012/2013 season, despite the hype, the total number of pediatric influenza-associated deaths, according to the CDC, was 154, which is minimal, given the size of the USA. [6]

If all cases of flu were life-threatening, then everybody who suffers a bout of flu would be rushed to the hospital in the same way as a person suffering from meningitis. They are not, proving that all cases of flu are not life-threatening. I am not saying that the flu is not the slightest bit dangerous, but I am saying most healthy people can sail through the flu as they can a common cold.

How Effective is the Flu Vaccine?