Coroner explores possible link between Derby mum's death and Covid jab

The family of Mohinder Kaur Mahal expressed concern after the death of their 85-year-old mum

A coroner has been holding an inquest into the death of a Derby mum who had a stroke a week after having a Covid booster jab. Mohinder Kaur Mahal, 85, died at the Royal Derby Hospital five days after she was admitted.

Concerns were expressed after her death by her family that the vaccination could have been a contributing factor. Assistant coroner Alison Noble said that the inquest would look into whether there was any link between the Covid-19 jab and Mrs Mahal's stroke and her medical care, as well as the cause of her death.

The two-day inquest at Derby Coroner's Court heard that Mrs Mahal had previously had a stroke in January 2021 but, after recovering, she had her first Covid vaccination in March 2021, which was the Astra Zeneca variety. She shortly afterwards was admitted to hospital for stroke-like symptoms but according to Dr James Scott, Royal Derby Hospital consultant stroke physician, she had not had another stroke.

She returned home and for the next 18 months was in and out of hospital with a series of episodes that Dr Scott referred to as "decompensation" - this occurs when the brain is working hard to reconnect pathways after a previous stroke.

Mrs Mahal's son Baldev Mahal, who acted as her carer, said his mother was very undecided about whether to have another vaccination but finally decided to have one about 18 months later after she had been in hospital for abdominal and chest pains and pneumonia. She left hospital on October 14, 2022, and received a vaccination at home in Pear Tree on October 19.

She was a patient at the Lister House Surgery in St Thomas Road, Derby, and a nurse from there administered the jab, which was a bivalent Pfizer booster jab, designed to combat the variant Omicrom. Mrs Mahal had not had the initial second jab ahead of the booster but the inquest was told that, after the situation was flagged up to the UK Health Security Agency, it confirmed that it was fine to have given the jab but that the patient should complete the primary course at some point.

Mr Mahal said that within a few hours of having the jab, his mother was "not herself" and there was a gradual decline as she lost mobility, was confused and had difficulty picking up tablets. He said she was like that for a few days and, when he saw her on the morning on October 26, she said she was tired and he left her to sleep, returning later at about 6pm. By this time she couldn't speak or move and so Mr Mahal called an emergency ambulance.

Dr Scott said that Mrs Mahal had suffered a stroke but because it happened several hours before, any methods to dissolve the clot in her brain or dislodge it would not be effective because it was considered that, after four and a half hours, there is irreversible damage in stroke patients. He added that Mrs Mahal also had an irregular heartbeat on admission to hospital which needed to be stabilised before any scans could be taken.

He added that age is a significant risk factor for someone having a stroke, as well as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart failure and atrial fibrillation, which Mrs Mahal had. Dr Scott said that strokes "occur instantaneously" and not over days and that Mrs Mahal's condition after the booster jab was not linked to the stroke and that she was "non-specifically unwell" with a possible post-vaccination fever.

Dr Scott told the family that their mother was dying and that she passed away on October 31. He added: "There is no reason to suppose that there is any connection between the vaccination and the stroke."

Consultant Royal Derby Hospital pathologist Cordelia Kirchoff-Stewens was called to give evidence and said that she had been made aware of the family's concerns about the possible link with the vaccination and their mother's stroke and subsequent death.

She said that because the stroke had happened a short while after the vaccination and that the family had said Mrs Mahal had developed "stroke-like" symptoms on the day of the jab, she couldn't ignore the "temporal relationship" between the two, which raised the possibility of a "causal relationship".

She said: "Is it a coincidence or not in an age group with risk factors? I can't prove it and there is no test to prove the vaccination was the cause. We don't know if we can categorically say she would still be here if she did not have the vaccination.

"Why shouldn't her symptoms after the vaccination be the build-up to a stroke? I am not sure it's black and white, it's a grey area. I cannot prove it or disclude it that the vaccination did not cause or contribute to the stroke."

Coroner Ms Noble said that she would consider all the evidence and give her conclusion on November 1 from 10.30am.