Status: 04/11/2023 08:12 a.m
The first lawsuits will start soon: there are almost 200 civil lawsuits against corona vaccine manufacturers like BioNTech across Germany. People complain who claim to have been harmed by the vaccination.
According to lawyers, at least 185 civil lawsuits are pending across Germany for alleged damage caused by corona vaccinations. According to their own statements, two law firms in Düsseldorf and Wiesbaden represent 135 and 50 cases respectively. The lawsuits are directed against all four major manufacturers of corona vaccines: BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.
The presumed first trial is scheduled to start on April 28 at the Frankfurt Regional Court. The defendant is the Mainz-based vaccine manufacturer BioNTech. The plaintiff is a woman who claims to have suffered heart damage as a result of the Covid 19 vaccination. The woman, who, according to her lawyer, works in a medical profession herself, wants to remain unknown. Each case must be negotiated individually or a settlement will be reached.
Sticking point: connection between vaccination and damage
According to the opinion of lawyers and physicians, this question will ultimately be decided by experts. According to the Düsseldorf law firm, it had around 3,000 inquiries, which resulted in 810 mandates, of which 135 resulted in lawsuits. The Wiesbaden law firm reported 850 mandates and 50 lawsuits. Here, too, hundreds of cases were rejected as hopeless. According to industry experts, these two law firms represent the majority of those willing to sue. The crux of the matter is the causality: is there a connection between the vaccination and the damage?
In principle, the same liability rules apply to Covid-19 vaccines as to other drugs, for example under drug law or the Product Liability Act. The manufacturer can be held responsible if there is a production error. For example, if the drug is administered incorrectly, the person vaccinating is liable. The Düsseldorf lawyer Tobias Ulbrich expects a “battle of experts” – if the courts do not make a “deterrent verdict” right from the start, he told the dpa news agency.
BioNTech: Check each case carefully
The vaccine manufacturer BioNTech emphasized that “so far in none of the cases examined by BioNTech has a causal connection between the described health impairments and the vaccination with ‘Comirnaty’ been proven”. “We take our responsibility as a vaccine manufacturer very seriously,” said a spokeswoman.
BioNTech carefully examines each case in which claims are made against the company. The prerequisite, however, is that the lawyers submit sufficient documents. “When evaluating the case, we can rely solely on the medical facts to evaluate whether there is a causal relationship or not. Unfortunately, that is exactly what is very often missing.”