Seoul Family Court and Seoul Administrative Court. Yonhap News. 

The court ruled that the government must compensate the bereaved family of a citizen who died of a cerebral hemorrhage a week after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

According to legal circles on the 22nd, the Administrative Division 4 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Kim Young-min) recently ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by the spouse of the deceased, Mr. A, against the Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), seeking to revoke the rejection of compensation for preventive vaccination injuries.

Mr. A collapsed and was found two hours after receiving the Pfizer vaccine on December 28, 2021, and was taken to the hospital. He was diagnosed with intracerebral hemorrhage and received treatment, but died a week later on January 4 of the following year.

Mr. A had no prior diagnosis of cerebrovascular disease before the vaccination, and it was discovered during treatment at the hospital after collapsing that he had moyamoya disease.

The bereaved family subsequently applied for compensation, but the KDCA rejected it, stating, "The direct cause of death for Mr. A was intracerebral hemorrhage, and it is difficult to recognize a causal link with the preventive vaccination."

In the lawsuit filed by the bereaved family, the court sided with them, stating, "It is reasonable to consider that there is a causal relationship between the deceased's death and the vaccination."

The court ruled that it is difficult to definitively conclude that the intracerebral hemorrhage occurred independently of the vaccination, given that Mr. A had not shown any symptoms related to moyamoya disease before receiving the vaccine.

The court explained that fever and increased blood pressure, commonly reported after vaccination, can lead to changes in cerebral blood flow, potentially exacerbating moyamoya disease and causing hemorrhage. Furthermore, studies show a tendency for an increased incidence of cerebral hemorrhage in moyamoya disease patients after vaccination. Therefore, the court stated, "It is not difficult to infer from medical theory or common sense that the vaccination worsened moyamoya disease and led to death."

The court added, "Unlike vaccines for other infectious diseases, COVID-19 vaccines were approved and authorized under exceptional emergency procedures. The possibilities of what kind of damage may occur after vaccination and the specific probability of such damage occurring have not yet been clearly revealed."

Yonhap News