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| This photo shows a man receiving a COVID-19 vaccine shot at a health facility in Seoul, July 13. Yonhap |
A Seoul court has recently ordered the government to compensate a man who was diagnosed with brain diseases after receiving coronavirus vaccines, officials said Tuesday.
It is the nation's first known suit won by a plaintiff claiming compensation for COVID-19 vaccine injury.
The man in his 30s claimed he had a fever one day after he got an AstraZeneca shot in April last year, and felt dizziness and numbness in his legs on the second day.
He went to a university hospital and was diagnosed with intracerebral hemorrhage, cerebral cavernous malformation and mononeuropathy.
His family applied for compensation of 3.62 million won ($2,607) with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) but was denied payment.
The state agency refused to recognize a causal relationship between his diseases and vaccination, saying numbness in the legs is the main symptom of cerebral cavernous malformation.
The patient filed a lawsuit against the KDCA's decision with the Seoul Administrative Court, and the court sided with him.
"It is reasonable to consider there is a causal relationship between the diseases and vaccination," the court said.
"Before vaccination, the plaintiff was very healthy and had no neurological symptoms or medical history," it added.
The court said it is not known when he developed cerebral cavernous malformation and that he showed no related symptoms before he got vaccinated.
The KDCA appealed the ruling.
Currently, eight other lawsuits are proceeding over compensation for COVID-19 vaccine adverse events, according to the agency. (Yonhap)
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