Coroner recommends recording of all adverse reactions to Covid vaccines at inquest into death of Waterford man, Roy Butler.
A Coroner has recommended that medical professionals report adverse reactions to Covid vaccines to the relevant authorities after he recorded a narrative verdict following the inquest of a 23 year old man who died of a catastrophic brain bleed five days after he had a jab.
Roy Butler of O’Reilly Road in Waterford died at Cork University Hospital (CUH) on August 17th, 2021 having received a Johnson and Johnson vaccine at a pharmacy five days earlier.
He was rushed to University Hospital Waterford on August 16th, 2021 and shortly afterwards shifted to CUH after he became extremely ill at home.
Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster, who carried out a postmortem on Mr Butler last month told an inquest in to his death that the case was “baffling and unusual.’
Dr Bolster said that she had carried out 20,000 postmortems over a period thirty years. She indicated that she had never come across a case of a young person dying of such a bleed where an explanation couldn’t be furnished.
She stated that she couldn’t make a causal link with the vaccine arising out of the paucity of scientific literature.
Dr Bolster said that a link between the vaccine and the death of Mr Butler couldn’t be established or ruled out.
Today (Thursday) Coroner Philip Comyn made three recommendations in the case. The first related to the consideration of an information campaign with the public on the need to report adverse reactions to vaccines.
The second involved informing the general public as “to whom they should report these adverse reactions.”
The third recommendation was that the HSE, and all medical and professional bodies be “reminded of the need to insure such adverse reactions are noted and reported promptly to the revelant authorities.”
He said that the lack of hard data concerning adverse reactions to vaccines and other medications “affects the ability of clinicians, medical experts and regulatory authorities in carrying out their duties.” Mr Comyn noted that “not all adverse reactions are reported.”
He thanked the Butler family for the “quiet dignity and respect” they had shown at the inquest. He acknowledged that “some of the evidence was very difficult for them to hear.”
He extended his deepest sympathies to the loved ones and friends of the deceased.
“And again to commend them for the dignified and respectful manner in which they conducted themselves throughout this inquest.”
Mr Comyn said that the majority of the medical evidence in the case was best described by Assistant State Patholoist Dr Margaret Bolster as : “I can neither rule in any link with the vaccine nor can I rule it out.”
He said that counsel for the Butler family had attributed the death of Roy to the vaccine.
“I can appreciate why the family place emphasis on the temporal nexus between the administration of the vaccine and the onset of symptoms the symptoms other than that of intercerebral haemmorhage can equally be attributed to the everyday adverse reaction to the vaccine which are described as vaccine reactogenicity.
I am not satisfied that the temporal connection meets the causation test on the balance of probabilities.”
In a statement following the verdict the Butler family say that Roy was a young man in the “prime of his life, with no health issues to indicate what would
ultimately happen to him.
“Philip Comyn, the Cork City Coroner, made the decision to have an inquest into Roy’s death as a matter of public interest. As a family we feel it was important that Roy’s death was the subject of a Coroner’s inquest, and it highlights the vital role it has in our society as a fact finding inquiry.
It allowed us the opportunity to understand more about the vaccine and discover whether
there were other adverse events associated with it.”
The family said in the lead up to the inquest they received a report from Johnson and Johnson which identified 59 people (worldwide) who suffered intracranial haemorrhage within ten days of receiving the vaccine.
“During evidence, another investigation revealed within 28 days of receiving the vaccine, 36 young adults suffered an intracranial bleed after the first dose, while two others suffered a bleed after a booster dose.”
They also pointed to the evidence of Dr Bolster who said that in 20,000 autopsies, she had never come across a situation where she could not ascertain the cause of death of such a young person.
Meanwhile, at the inquest last month Ciara Davin, BL, for the Butler family said that Roy’s “last communication on earth” involved him calling his mother for help at the family home on the Cork Road.
He experienced jerking and convulsions shortly before he was hospitalised. He had sent texts to his friends and his brother over the previous few days saying that was feeling sick following the vaccine.
Ms Davin said that Roy even told one of his friends via text that he was “dying” after the jab.
“Poignantly he was effectively documenting his own demise in his texts to friends. Little did he know that he was in fact dying when he said ‘dying’ in a text to a friend.”
Ms Davin said in Roy’s ‘honest and innocent” texts he “left all the evidence” that was needed to link his death to his receipt of the Covid vaccine.
Roy had complained of headaches, grogginess, neck and jaw soreness. She said that his death was caused by the vaccine and described the most appropriate verdict as being that of misadventure.
She insisted that Mr Butler’s death arose because of an “evolving intra cerebral crisis.” She said that the footballer was a “clean living” man who trained several times a week.
“He had no underlying issues and no past history of medical significance.”
Neuropathologist at CUH, Dr Niamh Bermingham, who alongside an other colleague carried out an examination of the brain of the deceased said that it was an “unusual case.” She stated that she couldn’t recall another case of an “unexplained haemorrhage in a young person.”
She said that there was no genetic component found which could explain the death. No malformations were detected in the brain of Mr Butler.
John Lucey, SC for Johnson and Johnson, emphasised that the facts were that there was no medical evidence to determine any link between the vaccine and the death of Mr Butler.
Aaron Butler, a brother of the deceased, previously thanked all the people who had supported them for the last two years.
He stated that his brother was “the total package” — a “caring and positive” young man loved by all.
Reporting by Olivia Kelleher
