Lawyers representing the family of a man who died after receiving the Covid vaccine say they plan to pursue a claim for "clinical negligence" against West Suffolk Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Jack Last, from Stowmarket, was 27 when he died from a blood clot to the brain at Addenbrooke's Hospital on April 20 last year.
He had received the AstraZeneca vaccine three weeks earlier - which was withdrawn for use in under-30s a week later due to concerns over blood clots.
Mr Last attended West Suffolk Hospital with severe headaches (Image: Contributed)
Eleven days before his death, Mr Last attended West Suffolk A&E at Bury St Edmunds for severe headaches - which later turned out to be vaccine-induced thrombosis.
Following an inquest that ruled his death was the "direct result" of receiving the vaccine, lawyers claim the hospital "could and should have been able to do more to try to save him", and allege that the trust "didn't have the facilities to deal with complications when things went wrong".
Doctors at West Suffolk initially believed Mr Last had developed a migraine.
Consultant Dr William Petchey said he was concerned about a vaccine-induced thrombosis, but thought the "probability was low".
Dr Petchey asked a junior doctor to book a CT venogram to rule out cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (a blood clot in the sinuses), but added that the radiographer did not have the "technical expertise" to perform the scan and a plain CT was ordered instead.
Mr Portman-Hann, an associate with FBC Manby Bowdler’s clinical negligence team, working for Mr Last's family, said: "The inquest was told that West Suffolk didn't have facilities for CT venous imaging to be performed out of hours due to a lack of trained staff.
"Had they been able to do the correct scan and see definite evidence of VITT [vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia], treatment would have been started sooner and Jack might have survived.
“On behalf of Jack's family, we will now be pursuing a clinical negligence case against the hospitals."
It is believed the trust has now identified this risk and has recruited and trained staff in this area.
Craig Black, interim chief executive for the trust, said: "We offer our deep and heartfelt condolences to Jack’s family and friends at this extremely difficult and painful time.
Craig Black, interim chief executive at West Suffolk Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (Image: West Suffolk Hospital NHS Foundation Trust)
"We have been and continue to engage fully with all investigations looking into the circumstances of Jack’s tragic death.
"We have robust internal review processes and are taking forward learnings, particularly around our provision for out-of-hours radiology services."
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