South Korea: Court orders compensation for teacher's death after Pfizer vaccine

A South Korean court has ordered the government to compensate the family of a teacher in her 20s who died from vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) after receiving the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. This landmark ruling is the first instance where a court has acknowledged a causal link between mRNA vaccines and fatal blood clots.

The Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, the bereaved family of the deceased teacher, identified as A, in their lawsuit to nullify the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's (KDCA) refusal of compensation for adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine. The KDCA did not appeal the ruling, making the verdict final.

Teacher A, a primary school physical education teacher, was prioritized for vaccination and received the Pfizer vaccine on July 28, 2021. Ten days later, she experienced symptoms of indigestion, vomiting, and nausea, leading to hospitalization. Her condition worsened, suspected to be VITT, and she was transferred to a university hospital. Despite undergoing small intestine resection surgery, she developed acute liver failure, acute kidney failure, and septic shock, ultimately passing away on September 3, 2021.

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The court found a significant causal relationship between the vaccination and the death, even considering the teacher's pre-existing condition.

The KDCA had initially denied compensation, arguing that A's condition was not VITT linked to the vaccine but rather an exacerbation of her pre-existing Kimura's disease. However, the court disagreed, finding a significant causal relationship between the vaccination and her death.

The court noted that A, at 24, was a healthy physical education teacher with no significant health issues besides Kimura's disease, and her overall health was good for her age. The court also pointed out that as a prioritized recipient under government policy, her pre-existing condition was likely not considered in the vaccination risk assessment. Instead, the court suggested that her underlying condition should be considered a factor supporting the causal link, given the involuntary nature of the vaccination without thorough risk deliberation.

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There are recent research findings that mRNA vaccines are also related to the development of immune thrombocytopenia and thrombotic thrombocytopenia.