A woman in her 20s died after she was given a Covid-19 vaccine. An inquest into her death is expected to start soon. In a court hearing on Wednesday, coroner Catherine Fitzgerald said she would take into account the large amount of medical data that was presented to the court.
She noted that she would also be restricting the number of expert reports that were submitted.
The woman, identified as Natalie Boyce, died in March 2022 at a hospital in Melbourne. A lawyer for Moderna Australia, Jesse Rudd, said that the company had been working with an expert on the issue.
In 2018, a rheumatologist examined Ms Boyce for her lupus. Although she agreed to Moderna’s request, the coroner noted that she would not be able to collect more information about the woman’s symptoms due to the large amount of materials being submitted.
She also said that she would be reluctant to obtain reports and other information due to the complexity of the situation.
The coroner noted that if the situation continues to worsen, it could lead to an inquest. Lawyers for the woman’s family opposed Moderna’s request to have an inquest. They also noted that the doctor who examined Ms Boyce four years before she died had seen her for lupus. Mr Rudd said that the significance of the condition is addressed in all reports.
A lawyer for Mulgrave Private Hospital, Sarah Faraone, was also allowed to be excused from the court as an interested party. The hospital’s nurses were employed staff but were also contractors.
Shannon Finnegan, who is representing the family, noted that the triage process at Mulgrave Private Hospital was too slow.
Although the hospital’s actions were acknowledged by the court, she was also allowed to withdraw the facility as an interested party. Ms Fitzgerald said that the hospital would be looked into. The GP of Ms Boyce had also been excused from the court as a potential interested party.
She had spent the final three weeks of her life in an unconscious state. According to her death certificate, she died due to a myocardial infarction.
When she was 15 years old, Ms Boyce was diagnosed with a rare blood clotting disorder. Her mother, Deborah Hamilton, said during a parliamentary inquiry in 2023 that she believed that her daughter would still be alive if she did not get the Covid-19 vaccine.
She also noted that they would not have allowed her daughter to receive another vaccine if they had known about the risks associated with the vaccine.
After getting the Moderna vaccine, Ms Boyce started feeling sick. She went to several hospitals and doctors. According to Ms Hamilton, both the state’s health system and the mandates related to vaccinations were to blame for her daughter’s condition.
According to Ms Boyce’s family, her part-time employer encouraged her to get vaccinated. She also had to get a vaccination to attend university. On Wednesday, the parties that were represented in court included Moderna, Eastern Health, Triple Zero Victoria, Mulgrave Private Hospital, and Alfred Health.