Family of man who took own life after COVID jab complications call for action on government compensation
The family of an NHS pharmacist who took his own life after suffering paralysing complications from a COVID jab are calling for urgent reform of the government’s compensation scheme for vaccine damage.
John Cross was told by the official medical assessor for the scheme that the jab had caused his rare neurological effects, but that he wasn’t disabled enough for a payment.
Mr Cross was unable to move, blink or breathe after his first dose of the vaccine.
He spent seven months recovering in hospital but was left with chronic pain and numbness – and suffered several relapses.
After he was rejected by the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), his mental health deteriorated and he took his own life.
John Cross’s children. Pic: Family
Speaking exclusively to Sky News, Philip Cross, John’s youngest son, said the family would seek to overturn the judgment and force reform of the VDPS.
“We want some good out of this and to get the system changed in memory of dad.
“You look at everything and it’s just wrong. It’s unjust.”
John was a staunch supporter of vaccination, eager to get his COVID jab to protect elderly relatives and help end the pandemic.
But two weeks later, he suffered rapidly progressive paralysis that swept up his body.
He was admitted to intensive care where he was given a tracheostomy, a breathing tube in his neck. And nursing staff had to tape his eyes closed so he could sleep.
John Cross and wife, Christine. Pic: Family
He slowly learned to eat, walk and talk again. But he never regained the mobility and fitness he had enjoyed before his illness.
Doctors eventually diagnosed Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy, nerve swelling that leads to a loss of strength or sensation.
Adam, John’s eldest son, said his father dreaded intensive dialysis-like treatment to remove rogue antibodies from his blood because it left him severely fatigued for days.
“I think he knew that without the treatment, this long-term condition would yo-yo, possibly for the rest of his life,” he said.
“And he’d have to deal with that. It’s devastating.”
John was urged by his doctors to submit a claim to the VDPS.
The scheme was set up in 1979 to make a one-off payment of £120,000 to people who have suffered rare, but significant, side effects to a range of vaccines.
But after a two-year delay, with only a review of his medical records and no face-to-face assessment, his claim was rejected.
His widow, Christine, said: “Nobody spoke to him. There was no personal contact, nothing. Just fill in this form and that was it.
John Cross’s wife and children. Pic: Family
“I’m very angry. John went through enough with the illness and the recovery without going through the trauma of this bureaucracy.”
John began gathering medical evidence to have the judgment overturned.
But he became increasingly anxious and overwhelmed.
In October 2023, faced with more gruelling treatment for another flare-up, he took his own life.
Liz Whitehead, his daughter, said: “We’ve all had our vaccinations. And we continue to since we’ve lost dad.
“But now you start to question. If a rare, unusual thing were to take place, the system’s not got your back. It’s not there for you… is it worth the risk?”
Vaccination has long been seen as a social contract, with individuals taking the jab for the good of everyone.
But all vaccines have rare side effects, and the VDPS was designed to be a safety net for severe cases.
Under the VDPS, a medical examiner assesses patient records and testimony from doctors involved in the claimant’s care.
To qualify for payment, they must be deemed to be 60% disabled, a threshold with origins in compensation schemes for industrial injuries. Amputation below the knee would be sufficient for a payout.
Peter Todd, the Cross family’s solicitor
But the Cross family’s solicitor, Peter Todd, of Scott-Moncrieff & Associates, said medical assessors struggle to make “apples and pears” comparisons with complex vaccine damage.
“The threshold is often misunderstood as being very high, akin to being totally paralysed,” he said.
“But it isn’t. It’s a much lower standard, and they have to take into account both the physical disablement and the psychological impact.”
Mr Todd has tracked applications to the VDPS.
Before the pandemic there were a few dozen a year.
But since the COVID vaccine rollout, 14,000 people have made claims, according to Freedom of Information requests submitted by Mr Todd to the NHS Business Services Authority.
Just over 6,000 have so far been notified of an outcome, with 180 people told they would be given a payment.
Another 350 people have been told that on the balance of probabilities the vaccine caused their complications, but that they didn’t meet the 60% disability threshold.
Read more
Grieving mother urges parents to get children vaccinated
Man who suffered brain injury days after getting COVID vaccine sues AstraZeneca
Mr Todd said people can struggle to explain the full impact of their vaccine damage on a complex form.
“There’s a real mismatch between what the claimant has understood about their condition and what the assessor is prepared to accept based purely on medical records that weren’t created for the purposes of this assessment,” he said.
“They rejected (John’s claim) in the most high-handed and unfair manner, which just broke him psychologically.”
The NHS Business Services Authority told Sky News that it did not comment on individual cases, but that it was in touch with the Cross family about their concerns over John’s assessment.
The Department of Health, which is responsible for the scheme, said the ongoing COVID Inquiry would investigate reform of the VDPS as part of its vaccination module starting in January next year.
In a statement, it said: “Assessments of VDPS claims are undertaken by qualified independent medical assessors, who use the medical records and information provided by the claimants’ healthcare providers to make their assessment.”
The Cross family are upset by the slow progress of the case.
“He was our dad, he was a really wonderful man,” said Liz.
“It’s a tragedy and the government needs to hear it. Don’t send me your condolences, don’t tell me how bad you feel for me or us.
“Do something.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
UK
Liam Payne died without a will as it’s revealed who’ll be responsible for his multi-million pound fortune
Liam Payne left behind a fortune worth £24.3m and died without a will, court documents show.
The singer, 31, died in October last year after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina.
Documents show Cheryl, his former partner and mother of his son Bear, is an administrator for his estate.
This means she will be legally responsible for his money, property, and possessions.
The former Girls Aloud singer, 41, could place the fortune in trust for Bear as UK rules of intestacy state that a person’s spouse, and then any children they have, are first claim to the estate.
Music industry lawyer Richard Mark Bray has also been given administrator duties.
According to the Letters of Administration, the gross value of Payne’s estate amounts to £28,594,888.
The net value, the total after debts and expenses are paid, is £24,279,728.
Cheryl is an administrator of his estate. File pic: PA
Court documents state that the former One Direction star fell from the balcony of his room on the third floor of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires at about 5.10pm on 16 October.
Toxicology tests revealed that before his death, he had traces of alcohol, cocaine, and a prescription antidepressant in his body.
His cause of death was “polytrauma” from multiple injuries and internal and external bleeding, a postmortem found.
Manslaughter charges against Payne’s friend Rogelio “Roger” Nores, hotel operator Gilda Martin, and head of reception Esteban Grassi were dropped following an appeal in February.
Hotel employee Ezequiel Pereyra and waiter Braian Paiz are still facing prosecution for allegedly supplying Payne with drugs, having been charged in December. Supplying drugs in Argentina carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
At the Brit Awards in March, Payne was remembered with a video montage which showed him with his family, as well as a clip from his time on The X Factor and with One Direction.
A man whose dismembered body was found in a suitcase had raped and blackmailed a teenager, a court has heard.
The remains of Albert Alfonso, 62, and Paul Longworth, 71, were found in a suitcase and trunk which had been left near the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol in July 2024.
Yostin Mosquera is on trial at the Old Bailey in London accused of murdering and dismembering Mr Alfonso and Mr Longworth.
The 35-year-old denies both murders but has admitted the manslaughter of Mr Alfonso.
A witness, giving evidence under the pseudonym James Smith, appeared at the trial by video link on Wednesday.
Mr Smith said he met Mr Alfonso nearly 20 years ago when he was around 17 or 18 and had gone to his flat for drinks.
He said he remembered drinking heavily and then waking up with a “banging headache”.
“I said to him, ‘what’s happened?’ – he showed me a video of me on all fours and he was penetrating me,” he told the court.
“I didn’t know what to do. I was mortified. At this point, I didn’t know my sexuality – I was confused and scared.”
He said Mr Alfonso told him if he did “favours”, the video would never be shared.
Under cross-examination, defence barrister Tom Little KC asked: “Does it cross your mind, looking back, that you were raped?”
“Now, yes,” Mr Smith replied.
“And does it cross your mind that your drink may have been spiked?”, the barrister asked.
“Now, yes,” the witness responded.
“Does it cross your mind that you were groomed by Albert Alfonso?”, Mr Little asked.
“Now, yes,” Mr Smith said.
After the alleged incident, the two met regularly, with Mr Alfonso paying Mr Smith around £150 for each sexual encounter, the court heard.
During the COVID pandemic, the witness said he became closer with Mr Alfonso and began spending time with Mr Longworth.
Mr Smith told the court he was later introduced to Mosquera.
Yostin Mosquera is on trial at the Old Bailey. Pic: Metropolitan Police/PA
He said the relationship between Mosquera and Mr Alfonso was “good – very good”.
“I didn’t see anything that seemed like they disliked each other,” he added.
He described Mr Longworth as someone who “wouldn’t hurt a fly”.
Read more from Sky News:
Hosepipe ban looms for England
Second US fighter jet falls into sea
Mr Smith said the final time he saw Mr Alfonso and Mr Longworth was on a Friday evening before the bodies were discovered.
“Albert gave me a hug, Paul gave me a hug, and that was the last I heard of those two,” he said.
The trial continues.
“Illegal drugs” have been found in staff lockers at Wales’s largest hospital with “no consequences”, a review has found.
Reviewers heard examples of people behaving in a “dysregulated way”, such as engaging in “outright criminal behaviour including theft and illegal drugs”.
A report published on Wednesday found female members of theatre staff at the University Hospital of Wales were unable to leave “anything of value in the changing room due to the regularity of the theft”.
The review noted examples of “money, phones, computers and clothing going missing”, which had “created an atmosphere of fear”.
The health board in charge of the hospital apologised following the findings and vowed to make “urgent improvements”.
The comprehensive review of theatres at the Cardiff hospital was commissioned by the health board’s chief operating officer and carried out by two senior colleagues, after the results of an internal staff survey last summer.
Comments made by staff in that initial survey were “concerning” and related to “conduct issues, poor behaviour and gave a clear perception of a disengaged workforce with low morale”, according to the report.
The review, which concluded on 29 April, made 66 recommendations relating to areas including patient safety and theatre efficiency.
It found a perception among staff that there were “no consequences for poor behaviour”.
Over a third of theatre staff took part in the review, and Cardiff and Vale University Health Board acknowledged it had “uncovered a number of concerning themes”.
‘Damning’
Andrew RT Davies, a Conservative Senedd member for South Wales Central, said the review’s findings were a “damning indictment” of the Welsh government’s record and that “criminality and chaos” had been “tolerated”.
Mabon ap Gwynfor, Plaid Cymru’s health spokesperson, described the report as “damning and serious”.
Speaking in the Senedd on Wednesday afternoon, Welsh health secretary Jeremy Miles said the findings of the review were “shocking”.
Welsh health secretary Jeremy Miles described the report’s findings as ‘shocking’. Pic: Senedd TV
“I’m planning to meet very soon with the chair of the health board,” he said.
“I know that they are taking the report seriously. I also know there are steps already under way.”
In a joint statement, the health board’s chief executive Suzanne Rankin and chief operating officer Paul Bostock said the board would “consider the findings” and develop a “detailed action plan to make urgent improvements”.
They added that, of the more than 30,000 surgical procedures carried out in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan annually, the number of incidents was “proportionally very small”.
Read more from Sky News:
Who could be the next pope?
‘I’m hanging on over the bridge’: Driver’s terrifying ordeal
Ms Rankin and Mr Bostock were “pleased” the report acknowledged “many of the highly skilled, experienced and knowledgeable individuals who work within the theatres department”.
“It is important to us as a health board that we retain the trust and confidence of patients and their loved ones who put their health in our hands and rely upon us to do no harm,” they added.
“We are very sorry for the distress and concern this will cause, and we want to reassure the public that we will take the necessary steps to address the concerns raised.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway