Polio vaccine side effects case could serve as a precedent for narcolepsy lawsuits linked with swine flu vaccine

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At the age of one, Johanna Junttila was one of thousands of children in Finland who were given a drop of juice in 1985. The liquid was an orally-administered vaccine against an outbreak of polio that threatened Finland at the time.
      After the vaccine something unexpected happened. Junttila came down with Guillain-Barré syndrome, causing paralysis in the lower part of her body.
     
After a number of diagnoses and treatments, parents Maritta and Terho Halonen started looking for ways to be compensated.
      A legal battle lasting several years ensued, concluding with a decision in 1995, in which the Supreme Court ordered the state to pay damages.
     
The polio case could prove useful if court cases emerge from a recent rise in cases of narcolepsy, which coincided with last winter’s vaccination campaign against the H1N1, or swine flu virus.
      “Undoubtedly the lawyers will dig this one up”, says Kaarlo Tuori, Professor of Law at the University of Helsinki.
      As many as 40 children in Finland have been diagnosed in Finland after the vaccinations. Normally, about three children or young people a year are diagnosed with the disease.
      The Chancellor of Justice has received a total of 23 complaints linked with the swine flu virus. Most of the complaints involve inadequate information. A few focus on the acquisitions process of the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
     
In the 1980s the number of Guillain-Barré cases increased. Nine children came down with the syndrome a few days or weeks after the vaccines were administered.
      Tuori says that no direct comparisons can be made yet, even though there are many similarities in the vaccination campaigns.
      “It is not possible to draw legal conclusions about this case because studies are still going on, and evidence of a causal relationship needs to be evaluated separately. It can never be one to one”, he says.
     
The possible link between narcolepsy and the swine flu vaccine is being examined in extensive studies, but whether or not there is a connection could remain a mystery.
      In the case of Guillain-Barré and the polio vaccine, the Supreme Court ruled that no causal link was proven, but it decided to award the family compensation anyway.
     
The parents of the children who came down with Narcolepsy this year want compensation because many of them have had to quit their jobs to take care of their children. Many have also applied for disability compensation from the Social Insurance Institution (KELA).
      “Money would certainly not compensate for making a child’s life more difficult, but it makes it easier. The child will live with the disease as an adult as well”, one mother says.
      She believes that there may be court cases over the issue.
     
The children who came down with narcolepsy have also been on the mind of Juhanna Junttila, who is now 27 years old. The disease still limits her life. She has had to undergo a number of surgeries on her legs, and she is also affected by neurological pain.
      “I am grateful to be able to stand on my own legs, even though they are not much.
      Junttila has little faith in vaccines.
      “We have only given our children the mandatory vaccines.”, she says.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Ministry investigates whether suspicions over swine flu vaccine side-effects were withheld (27.8.2010)
  H1N1 vaccinations suspended over narcolepsy scare (25.8.2010)
  Children suffering from narcolepsy exhibit severe symptoms (8.11.2010)
  Swedish study: Narcolepsy surge may not have been caused by swine flu vaccine (9.9.2010)

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