Utah mom sues AstraZeneca, claiming she was left ‘permanently disabled’ in COVID vaccine trial
A Utah mother who says she was “permanently disabled” after taking part in the US clinical trial of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine is suing the drug manufacturer because it failed to cough up enough cash to cover her medical expenses.
Brianne Dressen, 42, was “the picture of good health” when she started the British-made vaccine’s clinical trial in 2020 — but ended up developing a severe neurological condition, the lawsuit filed Monday alleges.
“I walked into the clinic fine, and walked out the beginning of a nightmare I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy,” Dressen said, per the court papers.
The former teacher developed side effects just hours after being injected with the vaccine, including arm tingles, blurred vision, a headache, ringing ears and vomiting, according to the court filing.
Some of the symptoms worsened and spread to her legs before she discovered she had developed paresthesia — a neurological condition in which nerves are irritated, the suit charges.
After being hospitalized a handful of times, Dressen said, she was diagnosed with “post-vaccine neuropathy” by National Institutes of Health neurologists in 2021.
The mom of two has accused AstraZeneca of breaching its contract by failing to provide adequate compensation to cover the costs of the medical bills associated with her side effects, which she says have “skyrocketed” in the years since taking the vaccine.
She claims she had signed a consent form with the manufacturer at the beginning of the trial that said AstraZeneca would “pay the costs of medical treatment for research injuries, provided that the costs are reasonable, and you did not cause the injury yourself,” the suit says.
Dressen, however, said AstraZeneca only offered her a one-time payment of $1,243.30.
That is a “minuscule fraction of the medical bills and lost wages, among other financial costs, that Bri had incurred and will continue to incur,” the suit says.
While some of her symptoms have improved, Dressen alleges she is “still disabled” and has become a shadow of herself, is unable to work or parent the way she once did.
“I did everything they asked of me. I honored my obligations to them. They have not honored any,” Dressen said.
“When they needed me, I was there, I cooperated. When I needed them, they were nowhere to be found.”
More than 50 people have already filed a class-action lawsuit against the drug manufacturer in the UK, alleging they were left with ailments from the vaccine.
An AstraZeneca spokesperson declined to comment on Dressen’s pending litigation.
“From the body of evidence in clinical trials and real-world data, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine has continuously been shown to have an acceptable safety profile and regulators around the world consistently state that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects,” a spokesperson told Bloomberg Law in a statement.
The AstraZeneca vaccine, which never ended up being approved for use in the US, is credited with saving as many as 6 million lives globally during the pandemic, according to the University of Oxford, which partnered with the company to develop the jab.
