Vaccines 2019

Dr. John B. Robbins, a Senior Investigator at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and a visionary pioneer in the development of the vaccine against Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), passed away in late November 2019 at the age of 86. Born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn on December 1, 1932, John Bennett Robbins was the descendant of a long line of rabbis from Minsk (now the capital of Belarus). His family’s original surname, Rabinowitz, was changed after his great-grandfather immigrated to the United States. Dr. Robbins earned his Bachelor’s degree in History from New York University in 1956, followed by his Medical Degree from the same institution in 1959.

A settlement has been reached in the landmark legal case of Aoife Bennett, who developed narcolepsy following the administration of the Pandemrix H1N1 influenza vaccine. To avoid a formal judicial determination of liability, the defendants opted for a settlement agreement that includes no admission of fault. While the specific financial terms of the agreement remain confidential, the defendants, including the Irish State and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), have agreed to cover the plaintiff’s legal costs, which are estimated to exceed €2 million. For Ms. Bennett, this concludes a ten-year legal battle against the Irish healthcare system, which has faced significant criticism for its perceived failure to adequately address vaccine-related injuries.