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Lucia Morgan - Vaccine Damage Trial

2008

On September 3, The Ontario Court of Appeal heard Lucia Morgan's hepati­tis B vaccine damage case that had been lost in the lower court (see Winter 2006 newsletter for details). Lucia sustained irreversible brain damage from the vac­cine which was required for her job as a social worker for the City of Toronto.
VRAN member Susan Harris sent us the following report:
Susan writes: In addition to Lucia and her husband, my husband Jim and I at­tended the appeal. Also present were Dr Byron Hyde, the physician who has done so much to help victims of hepatitis B vaccine injury and Kyle another young hepB injury victim. The rest were clerks, judges and lawyers, including Richard Anka, Lucia's lawyer.
The appeal was denied after Mr. Anka gave his "Factum", about 45 minutes long. The lawyers for the city did not have to speak at all. The judges gave three basic reasons for the denial:
At the discovery, no statement had
been given by Lucia that she reported
her reaction to her employer following
her first shot of hepatitis B vaccine. She
did of course do that, but had forgotten
to mention it at the time of pre-trial dis­
covery. Neither the nurse nor city staff
had any recollection of this person or the
situation!
The judges determined that the city
had done all that was necessary to inform
Lucia of risks from this vaccine, and that
the nurse administering the shot had been
properly trained about side effects. Mr.
Anka referred to a 1994 medical website
that provided a more detailed list of side
effect than what Lucia had been told,
"redness, soreness and swelling at the


site". Additionally, informed consent in writing had not been obtained.
3. The judges determined that any re­ports of adverse events were insufficient to cause any concern in 1994.
Mr. Anka referred to the previous three judges in the last 28 years, who had presided over vaccine injury cases, and who had stated that vaccine injured per­sons need to be compensated.
The judges recessed a second time and returned to state that Lucia had to pay the $8,000 for the city's cost of the appeal. Mr. Anka hopes that he may be able to get this cost waived. Lucia's financial means have been wiped out by this trial and because of her brain injury is unable to work again.
Some of us felt that the two female judges were rather curt and abrupt. It was not just what they said, but how they said it. I felt so badly for Lucia, however she was as gracious and brave as I have always seen her. We all had braced our­selves for this outcome, but still hoped otherwise. It sure hurt when it actually happened and the court ruled against Lu­cia.
Mr. Anka is urging Lucia to consider an appeal to the Supreme Court of Cana­da. Lucia has been left exhausted, ill and financially drained after the first trial and this recent appeal. She is undecided about taking her case to the highest court.
Susan's own son Paul sustained severe damage from the hepatitis B vac­cine as a young boy of 12 when he was vaccinated in grade 7. On a personal note she writes:
We have been busy with Paul who con­
tinues to have his tips and downs. He was
quite upset about the outcome of Lucia's
case. He has been off work since last Dec.
1 and we hope that after Dr. Hyde's and
neurologist appointment Sept. 24, we will
have some better direction. Our MPP has
mentioned that perhaps we could apply
to the Trillium Foundation for one time
funding to help us with costs for Paul. We
continue to look for support for Paul — an
ongoing challenge. It is tragic that Cana­
dian vaccine victims cannot expect justice
from the courts, nor obtain compensation
when they suffer severe and debilitating
injuries caused by government mandated
vaccine programs.                "V