Flu shot kills 19-year-old, but vaccine industry still has total immunity against lawsuits

- By Ethan A. Huff - December 10, 2013

The flu shot has claimed its first victim in the state of Utah, at least according to state health officials who insist that there is no official record of any individual ever previously dying as a result of the annual jab. 19-year-old Chandler Webb, a formerly healthy young man who worked out at the gym daily, reportedly suffered violent reactions and slipped into a coma just one day after getting his first flu vaccine ever, which prompted his death just a few weeks later.

Chandler was given the flu shot as part of a routine physical he received in preparation for an upcoming mission with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Salt Lake Tribune (SLT) reports that the young man suffered his first adverse reactions on October 16, just one day after getting jabbed. His symptoms included violent shaking, headaches and vomiting, all of which were the worst he had ever experienced.

"He said he never shook so hard in his whole life," sobbed Lori Webb, Chandler's mother. "He had the worst headache, throw up."

Chandler's health continued to decline in the immediate days following the vaccine, prompting his parents to take him to the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray. A team of six neurologists ran a battery of tests on the young man, testing him for every known virus, bacterium and fungus, but came up with nothing.

After weeks of being in a coma, Chandler eventually died as a result of severe brain swelling, which just so happens to be a common adverse effect associated with vaccinations. Though the hospital and the state say they cannot talk about the details of the case, Chandler's parents have since ordered a brain biopsy to verify the cause of death, which they believe was the vaccine.

"We're angry because we believe it's the flu shot that [caused] it," said Lori. "I've never been so scared in all my life to see my son go through so much."

State health officials says flu shot may be 'associated' with serious adverse events like death

In an interview with Fox13Now.com, Utah state epidemiologist Dr. Allyn Nakashima admitted that the flu can cause severe adverse events, but such events are rare. Stopping short of fessing up and definitively linking flu vaccines to causing the type of brain swelling that killed Chandler -- such swelling is commonly referred to in the medical literature as encephalitis -- Dr. Nakashima conceded to an association between the two.

"We certainly have seen associations of encephalitis or encephalitis-type illnesses following flu vaccine," stated Dr. Nakashima to reporters. "It's very rare, and we can't necessarily say there's a cause and effect here, [but] we can say there's an association."

Tom Hudachko, a Utah Department of Health spokesman, provided a similar spiel. He told SLT reporters that, while rare, "more severe side effects" can result from getting the flu shot, essentially affirming what Chandler's family observed in their loved one. Yet at the same time, the agency stopped short of all-out implicating the flu vaccine as the cause of Chandler's death.

Lori told reporters that she plans to seek justice for her son through the legal system, apparently unaware of the fact that back in 1986 the Supreme Court granted immunity -- oh the irony -- to drug companies against certain lawsuits arising from injuries or deaths associated with vaccines. This so-called law was affirmed back in 2011 by Justice Antonin Scalia, who wrote for the majority that the parents of vaccine-injured children will have to continue dealing with the illegitimate "vaccine court."

Sources for this article include:

http://fox13now.com

http://www.sltrib.com

http://www.csmonitor.com