Death from Cerebral Hemorrhage After COVID-19 Vaccination... Court Recognizes Causal Relationship

"Difficult to Rule Out Causality Between Vaccine and Death"

In a case where a person died of cerebral hemorrhage after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, the court recognized a causal relationship with the vaccine and overturned the decision to deny compensation for damages.

According to the legal community on September 22, the Seoul Administrative Court’s Division 4 for Administrative Affairs (Presiding Judge Kim Youngmin) recently ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the first trial of a lawsuit filed by individual A against the Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, seeking to overturn the denial of compensation for vaccination-related damages.

The deceased, B, received the Pfizer vaccine on December 28, 2021, and collapsed at home two hours later. B was transported to the hospital but passed away on January 4, 2022. B’s spouse, A, applied for compensation for vaccination-related damages that same year. However, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency decided in May 2023 that the case was not eligible for compensation, stating, "The direct cause of death on the death certificate is intracerebral hemorrhage, and it is difficult to rule out the possibility of an underlying medical condition."

In response, A argued that "B had no history of diagnosis or treatment for cerebrovascular disease before receiving the vaccine, and the death occurred immediately after vaccination," claiming that the denial of compensation was unjust. A also emphasized that research shows an increased incidence of cerebral hemorrhage in patients with Moyamoya disease after vaccination, citing this as sufficient grounds to believe the vaccine could have exacerbated an underlying condition.

The court accepted A’s arguments. The court stated, "It is difficult to definitively conclude that the deceased’s death was caused by factors unrelated to the vaccine, and it does not appear medically impossible to infer that the death resulted from the vaccination." The court further explained, "B had no diagnosis or symptoms of cerebrovascular disease prior to vaccination and collapsed immediately after receiving the vaccine, which establishes a temporal proximity between the vaccination and death."

The court also noted, "Given that the COVID-19 vaccine was developed and approved in a short period through emergency procedures, it is necessary to consider that its long-term safety has not been fully verified," and ruled, "The decision to deny compensation for vaccination-related damages is unlawful."