[back] Cervarix

Hattie, 13, joins fight for justice over misery of jab's 'side-effects'

AN East Devon girl is  among a group  of teenagers  launching a landmark legal  action against the  makers  of a controversial cervical  cancer jab —  claiming it   caused side-effects including paralysis and breathing  problems.

The Cervarix vaccine is  being  given to all girls aged  12 and 13,  but hundreds  have reported fainting,   seizures, fatigue, muscular   aches and lethargy.

The Government and the  makers of the drug claim it  will give  70 per cent protection from cervical cancer — the disease that  killed  Jade Goody — to every girl   under 18 by 2011.

But five girls and their  parents have  formed a  group to sue the  makers of  the vaccine, GlaxoSmithKline, for damages  under the  Consumer Protection  Act.

The girls are seeking up  to  £120,000 each, depending  on  the severity of the  side-effects.

A company spokesman   said   studies have shown it  is “generally well tolerated”.

Hattie Vickery, 13, of  Honiton,  is suing the chemical  firm with the help of  her parents,  Sophie, 35, and  Clive, 35, a  policeman.

They claim the vaccine  has  turned Hattie from a  normal  teenager into an  “invalid”, plagued with  paralysis, breathing problems and sickness.

Mum-of-two Mrs Vickery  said: “We feel we were badly misguided,” she said.

“We are taking this legal  action  because we feel this  vaccine was  rushed in and  our girls have  been human  guinea pigs, who have suffered as a result.”

Hattie was given two jabs  in  October and January but  her  mother later pulled her  out of a  third planned injection this  month.

Mrs Vickery said: “The  first time she  felt dizzy and  sick, her arm  went floppy,  and she was in pain  for  days. We had to go to hospital and she has not been  able  to use the arm properly since.

“We let her have the  second jab and it has just made   the arm worse. She still gets   headaches and nausea and  she is  now complaining of  eye pain.”

The jab is being given out  in an  attempt to cut the  number of  women contracting Human papillomavirus  (HPV), which  causes most  cases of cervical  cancer.

The legal action has been   launched by solicitor Peter   Todd, a vaccine specialist  with  London-based legal  firm Hodge  Jones & Allen,  who claims the  drug could  cause long-term disability.

He said: “These people  are innocent, but  may become seriously disabled  as  a result of the jab. I want to  see  justice for them.”

Mr Todd has not yet filed  his  group action and is  waiting for  more teenagers  to join the  claim.

Cervarix is  also being   given to girls aged 17 and 18  and,  by 2011, all those under  the age  of 18 in England will  have been  vaccinated.

A spokesman for GlaxoSmithKline said more  than 70,000 doses had been  given trials in  case studies  monitored for six  years.   These have shown it is   “generally well tolerated”.

She said: “Cervarix had  to  undergo rigorous testing, with  large numbers of  people in  numerous case  studies.”