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Student who claims to have developed narcolepsy after swine flu vaccine settles case

A student who claims she developed narcolepsy after taking the swine flu vaccine has settled her ...
Newstalk
Newstalk

12.48 19 Nov 2019


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Student who claims to have dev...

Student who claims to have developed narcolepsy after swine flu vaccine settles case

Newstalk
Newstalk

12.48 19 Nov 2019


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A student who claims she developed narcolepsy after taking the swine flu vaccine has settled her case in the High Court.

Aoife Bennett from Naas, Co Kildare told the court she couldn't get out of bed after getting the vaccine and was eventually diagnosed with the sleep disorder.

This case began last month and was expected to take up to ten weeks at a cost of millions of euro.

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However, when the court reconvened this morning, Mr Justice Michael McGrath was told it had been settled.

26-year-old Aoife Bennett gave evidence from a special comfortable chair in the early stages of the hearing.

She told the court she thought she was doing the right thing when she got the vaccine in the midst of a threatened swine flu pandemic in late 2009.

On Christmas Day that year, she said she had to drag herself downstairs for Christmas dinner.

She said she was “absolutely exhausted” and had lost all her energy.

She was diagnosed with the sleep disorder narcolepsy in 2011.

She claimed she had been misled about the safety of the vaccine and ill-informed of the potential risks.

Aoife’s case was settled with no admission of liability and the details of the settlement were not revealed in court.

Outside court afterwards, her mother Mary described it as a “landmark case”.

She said: "This vaccine was promoted by the State, and she was just 16 years old and in the prime of her life.

"This is a landmark case, and it was extremely difficult task for Aoife to take on the might of the State and the might of a large multinational company... while at the same time coping day to day with her illness."

Reporting by Frank Greaney
Main image: A general view of the exterior of the Four Courts in Dublin city centre. Photo: Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland

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