Pandemrix Compensation Payments Start in Finland

Authorities in Finland have started making payments of Pandemrix compensation to victims who developed narcolepsy during swine flu vaccination programs in 2009 and 2010.

A fund of 30 million Euros has been set up to pay for medical care for 94 people so far identified as contracting the sleeping disorder, following research by Finland´s Institute for Health and Welfare which indicated that that children given the drug Pandemrix were nine times more at risk of developing narcolepsy than those who were not administered the swine flu vaccine.

Narcolepsy is a life-long condition which can be passed genetically to future generations, and Kari Valimaki – the Finnish Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health – has already admitted that the Pandemrix compensation fund may be insufficient to meet future demand as nobody is sure how many personal injury compensation claims for Pandemrix side effects will be made in the future.

The Finnish research has since been supported by the Swedish Medical Products Agency and the European Medicines Agency, although no other countries have yet announced Pandemrix compensation payments to any of the victims diagnosed with narcolepsy or their families.