Girl with disability receives relief from Gauhati High Court following vaccination

A case involving a girl’s permanent disability following vaccination administration has concluded favourably following a ten-year legal battle.

On November 28, 2010, the petitioner’s daughter was born at the Sipajhar Public Health Centre, fit and healthy, having received all necessary immunisations at that time. The child was given the DPT-Booster, the second OPU-Booster for measles, and the second dose of Vita A at the Anganwadi Centre in the village of Patgiri Chuba under Khash Sonapur in the Darrang district when she was one and a half years old. The child was healthy at the time of the vaccination. But after receiving the immunisation, her health began to decline, and eventually, she passed out.

She then developed a high fever and lost her ability to stand on her own two legs. The child received treatment for nearly three months after being admitted right away to Sipajhar PHC and then Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH). But his daughter could not sit or walk; she could only lie on the bed until the day the writ petition was filed in 2014.

The Gauhati High Court ordered the authorities to pay Rs. 3,700 a month to hire a caretaker because the father could not afford the required care. The petitioner has been directed by the court to receive a payment of Rs. 1,00,000 into their bank account within 30 days of the judgement date. This directive is given to the Commissioner and Secretary of the Health and Family Welfare Department of the Government of Assam.