Court: "Refusal of Compensation for Death on the Day of COVID-19 Vaccination Is Justified If No Causality Is Established"

The family of an 88-year-old man who died on the day of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine filed a lawsuit against the government after being denied compensation, but the court did not accept the case.

According to the legal community on the 10th, the Administrative Court of Seoul, Administrative Division 5, ruled against the plaintiff A in the lawsuit seeking cancellation of the refusal to compensate for adverse reactions after COVID-19 vaccination filed against the Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Seoul Administrative Court

A is the child of B, who died at age 88 on the day of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. On April 23, 2021, at around 12:37 PM, B received the first dose of the vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination center located in Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi Province. However, at around 2:16 PM, B felt unwell and lost consciousness while being transported to the hospital by a 119 ambulance, and passed away at 3:13 PM.

Accordingly, A applied for compensation for vaccine injury from the government in May 2022, believing that B's death was caused by the COVID-19 vaccination. However, the KDCA rejected the compensation claim based on an autopsy report stating that B's death was due to another cause (aortic dissection rupture), concluding that there was no causal relationship with the vaccine and thus the case did not qualify for compensation.

A argued that although B was elderly and had hypertension, there were no other underlying diseases, and since B suddenly died after vaccination, there was a causal relationship. A also claimed that the KDCA’s refusal to compensate should be overturned, citing that the government had actively encouraged vaccination for the elderly while taking full responsibility for vaccine side effects and promising compensation.

However, the autopsy report stated that the cause of death was determined to be "aortic dissection and rupture." Furthermore, research conducted by the COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Committee commissioned by the KDCA also concluded that "there is no association between the COVID-19 vaccine and aortic dissection," which served as a basis for the court’s judgment.

The court stated, "Even considering all the circumstances claimed by the plaintiff (A), it is not reasonable to infer a causal relationship between the deceased’s death and the vaccination; rather, it is more plausible that death was caused by another factor," and added, "Since there is no evidence proving that the deceased died due to vaccination, the KDCA’s refusal to compensate is lawful."