French state pays woman €190k after Hep B jab issues

A court of appeal in Nantes (Loire-Atlantique) found this week that the now-64-year-old - known only as Mme. L - had been given a mandatory vaccination in May 1994 (due to her occupation working in the medical care sector), reported French news source 20 Minutes.

From July 1994 onwards - just two months later - she then suffered from muscular pain and generalised tiredness, later identified as the rare muscle-damaging and fatigue-causing disease macrophagic myofasciitis.

At a previous hearing about the case in May 2016, the State Council had already established that the woman’s Hepatitis B vaccination and the subsequent medical issues were linked.

This allowed the court to rule on Tuesday December 26 that the woman was “entitled to compensation in the name of national solidarity”.

The administrative court then imposed a fine of €190,751.19 on the French public medical accident agency Oniam (l'Office national d'indemnisation des accidents médicaux, des affections iatrogènes et des infections nosocomiales), plus €1,500 in legal fees, also paid by Oniam.