Australian government is hit with class action lawsuit over Covid vaccines
A landmark class action lawsuit has been filed against the Australian government and the drug regulator.
The nationwide lawsuit, which reportedly has 500 members, including three named applicants, seeks redress for those allegedly injured or deprived of the Covid-19 vaccines.
In fact, one of the applicants who developed a serious heart condition after receiving the Pfizer jab claims that there was “cover up” during the vaccine rollout that hid the potential risks.
The federal government, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and the Department of Health – in addition to a number of senior officials – are all named as parties to the class action, which was filed in New South Wales Federal Court on Wednesday.
The said parties are accused of negligence in approving and monitoring Covid-19 vaccines, breaching legal duties and malpractice in public office.
The lawsuit was organized by Queensland doctor Melissa McCann, who raised more than $105,000 through crowdfunding.
The group action was organized by Dr. Melissa McCann, Queensland GP who crowdfunded more than $105,000
Dr. McCann said the injured and survivors suffered “immense loss, pain and grief” and cited the alleged “gaslighting and silence” they were subjected to
“These injured and bereaved have suffered tremendous loss, pain and grief,” Dr. McCann tweeted.
Equally heartbreaking is the gaslight and the silence that make them feel abandoned. We can’t just ‘move on’ from covid and leave them behind.”
Dr. McCann has criticized the existing compensation scheme, claiming it was ‘not fit for purpose’.
“Many Australians who have been injured by the vaccine and who have no access to compensation through the Services Australia scheme are now left without support,” said Dr McCann.
The size of the compensation requested is not yet clear.
The TGA has been contacted for comment.
The latest TGA health safety report, published April 20reveals that adverse risks are extremely low.
There were a total of 138,307 adverse event reports from nearly 66 million vaccine doses administered — a rate of just 0.2 percent.
The protective benefits of vaccination far outweigh the potential risks.
Melbourne teacher Gareth O’Gradie is one of the class action applicants named. He was diagnosed with vaccine-induced pericarditis and had to undergo open-heart surgery
The drug regulator has identified a total of 14 reports in which the cause of death was related to vaccination and said no new vaccine-related deaths had been recorded since 2022.
“The TGA is closely monitoring reports of suspected side effects (also called side effects) of the COVID-19 vaccines,” it said.
“This is the most intensive safety monitoring of vaccines ever conducted in Australia.”
But instructing attorney Natalie Strijland, of Brisbane law firm NR Barbi, said the action would argue that the TGA has done significant damage and harm by failing to properly regulate COVID-19 vaccinations.
The class action names three applicants, one of whom is 41-year-old father-of-two Gareth O’Gradie.
Mr O’Gradie, a Melbourne teacher, was left with an 8-inch scar on his chest after developing severe pericarditis – inflammation of the lining around the heart – following his first Pfizer vaccination in July 2021.
He was unresponsive to several medications and therapies, and in February 2022, doctors performed open-heart surgery to remove his pericardial sac along his heart.
The TGA said myocarditis and pericarditis were “usually transient conditions, with most people getting better within a few days,” noting that the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ATAGI) “continues to emphasize that the protective benefits of the vaccines are much exceed the rare risk of these side effects’.
But Mr O’Gradie believes there has been “misinformation about the safety” of the vaccines by the government.
The federal government, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and the Department of Health – in addition to a number of senior officials – are all named as parties to the class action, which was filed in New South Wales Federal Court (stock image )
“I think something has been covered up,” he said news.com.au.
“There was a lot of, you know, ‘we shouldn’t scare the public as part of the vaccine rollout, so let’s not publish these things. There was a huge, deliberate withholding of information — that doesn’t give people informed consent.”
He claimed he was “not anti-vaccine at all, if ever.”
“I’m pro-science, I’m well-educated,” he said.
Mr O’Gradie told The Australian that he was concerned about the “anti-vaccination lobby piggybacking on the class action.”
He is joined by two other lead plaintiffs: Antonio Derose, 66, who developed encephalomyelitis (inflammation in the brain and spinal cord) after his AstraZeneca shot and Anthony Rose, 47, who claims severe cognitive impairment and chronic fatigue after his Moderna vaccination.
The existing compensation scheme, open to Australians who have “a moderate to severe impact following an adverse reaction to a TGA-approved COVID-19 vaccine,” has been heavily criticized for being difficult to access and too narrowly targeted.
As of April 12, Services Australia had received 3,501 applications and paid 137 claims totaling more than $7.3 million. A further 2263 claims are pending, while 405 have been withdrawn and 696 are considered non-claimable.