Serum Institute files Rs. 100 crore case against volunteer who claimed vaccine made him ill

The Serum Institute of India on Sunday filed a Rs 100 crore defamation suit against a Chennai-based volunteer who took part in the coronavirus vaccine trial and alleged that it triggered an adverse reaction, including neurological impairment.

Serum Institute has partnered with drug manufacturer AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford to produce the Covishield vaccine in the country.

The vaccine is seen as offering one of the best hopes for many developing countries because of its cheaper price and ability to be transported and stored at normal temperatures.

The volunteer sent a legal notice on November 21 and sued Serum Institute for Rs 5 crore. However, the company denied the allegations and called them “malicious” and “misconceived”.

In a statement, a Serum Institute spokesperson said that while they sympathised with the volunteer’s medical condition, there was “absolutely no correlation with the vaccine trial and the medical condition of the volunteer”. “The claim is malicious because the volunteer was specifically informed by the medical team that the complications he suffered were independent of the vaccine trial he underwent,” the statement said. “The volunteer is falsely laying the blame for his medical problems on the Covid vaccine trial. Inspite of specifically being made aware of the same, he still chose to go public and malign the reputation of the company.”