The widower of a BBC presenter who died after receiving the Covid vaccine has said he has “no other option” but to sue AstraZeneca.

BBC Radio Newcastle’s Lisa Shaw had her first stroke in May 2021 and died a week later.

In August of the same year, Newcastle Coroner Karen Dilks ruled that the 44-year-old had died of a rare condition associated with the stroke which induces swelling and bleeding in the brain, “thrombocytopenia induced by thrombotic the vaccine”.

Her widower, Gareth Eve, said no one had ‘reached out’ after trying to ‘engage with government, MPs and three prime ministers’.

He told the BBC: “It’s not in my makeup to turn around and say I want to sue someone, but for almost two years we’ve been trying to engage with the government and engage with the people. deputies since Lisa died and not one of them has reached out or engaged with us at all.

“Any engagement is fleeting at best, which is why we have no other alternative – if the government or AstraZeneca won’t engage with us, what else are we supposed to do?”

Mr Eve said he just wanted ‘some sort of acknowledgment or acknowledgment that these deaths happened’, adding: ‘We are not crackpots or conspiracy theorists, we are husbands and wives and family members who have lost someone – that’s it.

“Whatever the money, it won’t bring back my son’s mother.”

On behalf of nearly 75 plaintiffs, its lawyers sent AstraZeneca pre-action protocol letters in November under the Consumer Protection Act 1987. They are demanding payment under a government vaccine harm payment program. A few of these claimants have had loved ones who suffered vaccine-related injuries, which in some cases resulted in death.

Attorney Peter Todd of Scott-Moncrieff and Associates, acting on behalf of the plaintiffs, said the vaccine was a “faulty product in that it was not as safe as consumers were generally entitled to expect. wait there”.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was approved in December 2020, making it the first vaccine to be given the green light in the UK. The government has ordered 100 million doses and the vaccines have been rolled out across the country.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care told the BBC: “Over 144 million Covid vaccines have been given in England which has helped the country live with Covid and saved thousands of lives. .

“All vaccines used in the UK have undergone rigorous clinical trials and have met the strict standards for safety, efficacy and quality of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) .”

He added that while shots were the “best way” to protect against the coronavirus, the vaccine damage payment program was available for “people who, in extremely rare circumstances, have been severely disabled or are died as a result of receiving a government-recommended vaccine for a listed disease”.

In a statement, AstraZeneca said: “We are unable to comment on ongoing legal issues. Patient safety is our top priority and regulatory authorities have clear and stringent standards to ensure the safe use of all medication, including vaccines. Our sympathy goes out to anyone who has reported health concerns.”

He added evidence showing the vaccine had “an acceptable safety profile” and that the benefits “outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects”.

The Independent contacted Astra Zeneca and the Department of Health and Social Affairs for more comments.