Kendra was a healthy 38-year old woman - until she got the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID vaccine

 

Kendra Lippy

Johnson & Johnson 

Severe Adverse Reaction: Severe blood Clots & Multiple Organ Failure

Age: 38 Years Old 

Kendra was a healthy 38-year old woman - until she got the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID vaccine. Within about one week, she began experiencing headaches, abdominal pain and nausea.

Kendra was diagnosed with severe blood clots that subsequently sent most of her organs into failure. She also was left without most of her small intestine — and with crippling medical bills that she said the federal government should compensate her for.

Her blood clots developed in March. She was hospitalised for 33 days, including 22 days of intensive care.

Kendra now is in occupational and physical therapy, and is working to regain basic functions, such as walking 20 minutes at a time or climbing stairs. She had to relearn fine motor skills, including writing and using a fork, and she had to relearn how to walk. She is reliant on total parenteral nutrition (TPN), a feeding method that bypasses the gastrointestinal tract.

“I’m always going to have this disability … that’s going to limit what I can eat and limit … some activities that I can’t do anymore,” Kendra said. “Right now, I know it’s hindering me being able to go back to work, which is what I want to do. I’m not a stay-at-home person. I’m not somebody that’s gonna sit still, it’s just not me. I have to do something.”

Part of her road to recovery includes figuring out how to pay her extensive medical bills, which add up to more than $1 million.

Kendra wants to see a federal compensation system that is fair to her and others who are harmed by COVID vaccines. Because the government shielded vaccine makers from liability, she can’t sue J&J. She also doesn’t have a legitimate legal route to sue the government.

The CICP does not compensate anyone for non-economic damages, such as pain, suffering and disfigurement, said Stephen Justino, Lippy’s lawyer.

“It’s a woefully inadequate system,” Justino said.

Attorney Renée Gentry, director of the Vaccine Injury Litigation Clinic at George Washington University, said Congress must act to allow COVID vaccine claims to go through a more transparent process. Gentry said that would be the easiest way to ensure the system is fair for people like Kendra.

Gentry expects Congress will allow a more transparent process eventually, but it may not help people like Kendra who have already been injured, she said.

According to Bowman, in order for the NVICP system to accept COVID vaccination injury claims, the vaccines must be recommended for children and pregnant women and must meet specific criteria.