TWO bosses at pharma giant Johnson and Johnson told an inquest today that they were unable to provide a figure as to how many people have died worldwide as a result of receiving their jab.
Cork Coroner’s Court today heard that Roy Butler of O’Reilly Road in Waterford died on August 17, 2021.
He had received the Janssen jab at a pharmacy in Waterford on August 12, 2021.
Medics at Cork University Hospital (CUH) today stated that Roy, 23, suffered a “catastrophic intercranial bleed” having complained of feeling groggy and unwell prior to going in to convulsions at his home.
He was rushed by ambulance to Waterford University Hospital on August 16, 2021 and then onwards to CUH where he died the following day.
His parents Angela and Martin and his brother Aaron on Tuesday said in evidence that Roy was rarely sick.
The talented footballer played for Villa United in Waterford and trained several times a week.
Today the court heard evidence from Johnson and Johnson company director and vaccine safety officer, Dr Luis Humberto Anaya Velarde.
The inquest also briefly heard evidence from Dr Logesvaran Yogendran, Vice President of Global Strategy and Risk Management at the company.
Dr Anaya Velarde said that the company had carried out a study to see if there was any link between their vaccine and intercranial bleeds.
He said that having evaluated reported cases there was “insufficient evidence” to make a link between intercranial brain bleeds and their vaccine.
He insisted that there was no link between the death of Roy Butler and the vaccine he received from the pharmaceutical company.
‘Not sufficient for proof’
He said: “A single case may be tragic, it may be compelling – we take every case seriously, particularly this case where a healthy man of a young age dies, but from a scientific point of view, a single case is not sufficient for proof.”
Both Dr Anaya Velarde and Dr Yogendran were asked if they could provide information as to how many people have lost their lives worldwide as a result of getting the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
Both men stated that they did not have the relevant data.
Ciara Davin, BL for the Butler family, said that it was very clearly a case of “two plus two is four” and that the death of the young and healthy man was caused by the vaccine.
The inquest will continue tomorrow with evidence from Assistant State Pathologist, Dr Margaret Bolster, who carried out a post-mortem on the deceased.
