Anti-Covid-19 vaccine – Victim of repeated injuries, Laval player on ‘medical walk’ takes Pfizer to court

He took Pfizer and the French Football Federation to court. François-Xavier Fumu-Tamuzo, former player of the Laval club, is forced to retire from sports due to repeated injuries. For the player, it is the drug group’s anti-covid vaccine that is responsible for these lesions.

He refuses to be considered anti-vax. But François-Xavier Fumu-Tamuzo is looking for answers. Since March 2022, the Laval midfielder has not donned the crampons again. The fault lies in a series of serious injuries, in the knee, then in the Achilles tendon, which led him to make a difficult decision: to end his sports career at only 29 years old.

A premature departure difficult to accept for the athlete, who believes he has found someone responsible. He says that when the hellish cycle of injuries begins, in July 2021, he has just received the first dose of the Pfizer group’s anti-covid vaccine.

“Until very recently, my client suffered from medical wandering and consulted a number of specialists. He has an extensive medical file, but no expressed doubts… before‘professor of internal medicine emits possibility that there is a connection with the vaccine”, says his lawyer in Marseille, Maître Eric Lanzarone. For the lawyer, who clarifies that he is not either “anti-wax”, “LSide effects are taboo in society it is even worse in the world of high-level athletes.”

In order to get answers, the French-Congolese player, trained in Auxerre, chose to take legal action against the Pfizer group, BioNtech, as well as the French Football Federation, which had made vaccination of professional players mandatory in 2022.

A hearing is scheduled for July 2 at the Paris court. Justice may choose to form a panel of experts responsible for determining whether a causal link can be established between the athlete’s sudden injuries and the administration of the vaccine.

The lawyer specifies that since he decided to take the case to court, his client has received “Dozens of testimonies from people who suffered from similar pathologies after being vaccinated”.

We need specific studies on the negative effects of this vaccine, we have not done any on high level athletes, I also want to kick the ant hill and say we need to do these studies

Master Eric Lanzarone

Lawyer for François-Xavier Fumu Tamuzo

François-Xavier Fumu Tamuzo hopes to receive financial compensation, and must now build his professional retraining project.

Following the request of our colleagues from France Bleu Mayenne, the Pfizer group published a press release on Saturday 27 April.

“Pfizer as a matter of principle does not communicate information about ongoing cases, preferring to let the legal process take place peacefully. The health and safety of patients are our absolute priorities. Such is the process in force for all vaccines approved in Europe, EMA monitors and evaluates reported cases of adverse reactions related to our Covid-19 vaccine. Where applicable, the EMA also recommends updating the summary of product characteristics for our Covid-19 vaccine. We follow these recommendations and modify the summary of product characteristics of our vaccine accordingly if necessary.

If he is the first French athlete to take a manufacturer of anti-covid vaccine to court, François-Xavier Fumu-Tamuzo is not the only one to assure that the product is responsible for unwanted side effects.

Skeptical tennis player Novak Djokovic refused to be administered the vaccine, even though it meant forgoing certain sports competitions, open only to athletes whose vaccination schedule was complete.

At this stage, Pfizer remembers that“with hundreds of millions of doses administered worldwide, the benefit-risk profile of our Covid-19 vaccine remains positive across all approved indications and age groups,” including high-level athletes.

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