A young man who claimed he suffers from hyperactivity and mental retardation arising from a measles vaccine administered to him when he was a child has lost his action for damages in the High Court.
Mr Justice John Quirke yesterday granted applications on behalf of the State, the HSE and a doctor who administered the vaccine in February 1988 to strike out the claims against them after finding he was satisfied no case had been made to support those claims.
Alan O’Leary, Ballyphehane, Cork, had alleged the State disregarded the manufacturer’s recommendation that the vaccine should not be administered to persons
such as himself with a family history of epilepsy.
The defendants denied the claims.
The judge said he was satisfied no evidence whateverhad been adduced from which the court could possiblyinfer any negligence on the part of the State
or any breach of the State’s duty of care, he said.