REGIONAL: ‘Possible vaccine complication’ caused death of PM’s brother – Doc

Barbados Today – The lead doctor involved in the care of Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s younger brother while he was at a private medical facility in 2021 said there was a possibility that complications from the COVID-19 vaccine led to his death.

Dr Sahle Griffith, the principal of Surgical Solutions Inc., said he was “absolutely convinced” that Warren Mottley died as a result of small bowel ischemia, and World Health Organisation (WHO) studies had reported that condition could be caused by some COVID-19 vaccines.

He gave that evidence in a prepared statement delivered in the No. 10 Supreme Court as the Coroner’s Inquest into Mottley’s death continued. Mottley passed away at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) on June 29, 2021, a week after a routine colonoscopy at Surgical Solutions.

Dr Griffith, the current Head of Surgery at the QEH, told the inquest that Mottley’s case was “very rare”.

“I would like to begin my statement by saying that Mr Warren Mottley’s case is a very rare case. I have not encountered an identical case in a career of over 22 years and more than 4 500 cases as a primary surgeon. An indepth medical review of the facts showed that both pathologists found significant small bowel ischemia in the post mortem of Mr Mottley. This small bowel ischemia, I am absolutely convinced, was the cause of Mr Mottley’s death,” he said.

“Small bowel ischemia is the dying-off of the small bowel due to diminished blood supply. This can occur due to blood clots. Most recently, in this post-COVID era, this has been associated in the World Health Organisation’s medical studies with some COVID-19 vaccines, but can also be caused by other factors such as drugs or toxins.

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“….I began a literature search and by the third quarter of 2021, there was accumulating evidence in the literature pointing to an increased incidence of mesenteric ischemia – that is, clots to the blood vessels that supply and drain the gut – in previously healthy persons post-vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine. This raised the possibility that a possible vaccine-induced complication was the cause of Warren Mottley’s bowel ischemia,” Dr Griffith further testified.

The doctor said he reported Mottley’s case to the Pharmacovigilance division of the Barbados Drug Service on October 25, 2021.

He told the inquest that Dr Damian Henry, the principal investigator for vaccine adverse incidents in Barbados, also formed a conclusion based on the information he was presented.

“He [Dr Henry] informed me that up to the time of my query, there had been about 367 similar cases recorded in the WHO databases. He also opined that it was highly likely given the details provided in this case and his review of the autopsy findings that mesenteric ischemia was the most plausible cause for the constellation of findings in this case,” Dr Griffith stated.

The general surgeon also pointed to the fact that expert forensic pathologist Dr Althea Neblett’s earlier histology review indicated that ischemia was present in Mottley’s body before his first surgery at Surgical Solutions.

He said the fact that Mottley was unable to fully recover from a perforation of the small bowel which was detected hours after he underwent laparoscopy surgery was “anomalous” if the only issue had been the perforation.

Dr Griffith said that, ordinarily, patients recovered quickly once the bowel was repaired early, and that was especially the case in young, fit individuals. He said the perforation was detected 22 hours after the surgery, which he described as a “very early stage”.

“However, in a case of mesenteric ischemia, which Dr Neblett has posited as a possible cause of death, the perforation is a symptom of the progression of the degradation of the small bowel, the function of which is vital to life . . . . I have concluded that the breakdown of the functioning of the small bowel due to poor blood supply was the most likely cause of death,” Dr Griffith testified.

Attorney-at-law Francis Depeiza from the law firm Carrington and Sealy and legal counsel Michael Lashley K.C. and Sade Harris are representing private doctors involved in the inquest.

The Mottley family is being represented by attorneys-at-law Sir Elliott, Stewart Mottley, Faye Finisterre, Leslie Haynes Q.C. and Senior Counsel from Trinidad Douglas Mendez.