Original article (in Montenegrin) was published on 21/01/2022
The coronavirus pandemic has contributed to the anti-vaccine lobby starting to substantiate its well-known views with new claims and alleged evidence, in order to achieve the ultimate goal – discrediting vaccines and imposing a general opinion on their alleged harmfulness.
The coronavirus pandemic has contributed to the anti-vaccine lobby starting to substantiate its well-known views with new claims and alleged evidence, in order to achieve the ultimate goal – discrediting vaccines and imposing a general opinion on their alleged harmfulness.
We have been convinced for a long time that anti-vaxxers do not choose means to realize their intentions, and it is generally known that they need to interpret certain facts in their own way to lead manipulations to wrong conclusions that perfectly match their narrative.
An example of this is the claim of one Facebook user, who states in a post that the law in France treats death after a vaccine, which is not mandatory, as suicide.
“After the recent death of a rich Frenchman who died after receiving the vaccine, the insurance company did not want the heirs to pay for his policy, saying that he consciously and arbitrarily agreed to be vaccinated with the recommended but not mandatory vaccine, which is still in the third phase. For them, legally, it belongs to suicide, and the policy does not cover it”, it is stated, among other things, in the announcement.
The Facebook user further claims that French law recommends filing a lawsuit against the vaccine manufacturer and proving in court that the vaccine caused damage to health or death.
Death after vaccination – what is it really about?
At the beginning of the announcement, we can read that the authorities in France refused to pay compensation to the family of a citizen who died after vaccination, explaining that they pay compensation for impaired health only after receiving the vaccine, which is mandatory.
Although the specific case of the mentioned death is unknown, what is written below is true – France does not compensate for the potential damage to health, where the cause is a vaccine that is not mandatory.
However, what is disputable is the claim that the French authorities treat death after vaccination as suicide.
Namely, it is impossible to find such information in the legal provisions of the French state, which concern compensation for damage after vaccination.
“In France, regulations differentiate between compensation for mandatory and optional vaccines. As far as compulsory vaccination is concerned, the patient can expect full compensation for any damage and should seek compensation from the National Office for Medical Accident Compensation (ONIAM)”.
In addition, it is noted that the damage is not compensated if it was caused by vaccines that are not mandatory.
“There is no special procedure for compensation for damage caused by recommended optional vaccinations. Vaccination is a medical act. All harmful consequences can be compensated by various means such as: Proceedings before the competent court or Proceedings before the Conciliation and Compensation Commission (CCI) and in case of rejection or disagreement with the proposed offer, a lawsuit before the competent court”, states the website “CMS law” .
The conclusion that emerges from these legal norms clearly refutes the claims made in the Facebook post.
Therefore, if a person in France suffers damage to health after receiving an optional vaccine, he/she is not entitled to compensation from the state. Potential death after vaccination is not legally treated as suicide.
On the other hand, French law does not recommend filing a lawsuit against the vaccine manufacturer after experiencing impaired health and proving it in court, but states that as the only possibility in a situation when the state does not pay compensation, which is clearly explained in paragraph three.
Since we learned how French law works when it comes to compensation for damage after vaccines, we conclude that Facebook posts skillfully circumvent certain facts, in order to manipulatively send a message that in France, death after vaccination is equated with suicide, and that the authorities recommend a lawsuit against vaccine manufacturers.
Due to all the above, the publication is rated as a manipulation of facts.
This rating is given to a media report that uses known and accurate facts, but interprets them in a misleading way. These reports generally use accurate information to draw inaccurate conclusions or claims, thus misleading media content consumers in relation to the actual meaning of the facts presented.