A 10 year old boy has been awarded £120,000 compensation after he developed narcolepsy from a swine flu vaccination.

The Pandemrix vaccine, made by GlaxoSmithKline, was given to almost a million children in Britain during the swine flu pandemic of 2009-2010.

Josh Hadfield, from Frome in Somerset, was one of those children vaccinated six years ago.

However, the drug caused him to develop narcolepsy, a rare sleep condition in which people feel tired, drowsy and fall asleep without warning. He also developed cataplexy, which causes episodes of sudden muscular weakness.

Josh showed no symptoms of either condition before he was given the H1N1 vaccine in January 2010.

Patients who suffer ‘severe’ disability from vaccinations are entitled to £120,000 compensation through the Vaccine Damage Payments Scheme.

The government initially rejected Josh’s claim because they said he was not severely disabled enough. The family appealed the decision and a tribunal found in their favour, saying Josh was in fact 72% disabled.

Josh’s mother, Caroline Hadfield, said the compensation will “help to secure Josh’s future.”

 “It’s just a shame we had to jump through this amount of hoops to get this far”, she added.

Medical negligence claim

If you or your loved one has been the victim of medical negligence, please get in touch with us to discuss making a compensation claim.

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