She struggled to survive a COVID vaccine clinical trial, but Brianne Dressen’s story led to a global movement and a historic court battle.
Dressen is the co-author of “Worth a Shot?: Secrets of the Clinical Trial Participant Who Inspired a Global Movement.”
She told her story on a recent episode of Liz Collin Reports.
In 2020, Dressen was a busy mom, a preschool teacher, and married to a PhD chemist. She volunteered to be part of the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine trial.
“It just seemed like second nature to me. I was watching what was going on on the news. Medical professionals are in my family and I heard the horrific stories about what was going on with COVID in general in the hospitals. It was alarming enough for me to go. I wanted to be part of the solution. So that’s why I enrolled in the clinical trial,” Dressen said.
“My reaction started within an hour and it started with this strange pins and needles sensation down the same arm as my injection. It spread throughout my entire body and I still feel that horrific pins and needles sensation to this day, 24/7,” she added.
Her career ended the very next day. Dressen could never go back to the classroom. She was in and out of the hospital, her legs stopped working and she became incontinent. Dressen’s husband quickly contacted the clinic.
“They agreed to help me medically and financially if there was an injury as a result of the research, which was the COVID vaccine, and as soon as my issues popped up, it’s as if the drug company couldn’t get away from me fast enough. It really spiraled into a long, arduous journey of learning what happens when big corporate interests overtake the needs of an individual. It’s been something that I wish I’d never had to learn, but I definitely learned the hard way,” Dressen explained.
She’s been diagnosed with small fiber neuropathy and chronic inflammation along with a disease similar to MS, meaning her immune system is attacking her nervous system.
“It’s a lot of pain, a lot of fatigue. Some days I need a cane, some days I don’t. But just like everybody else dealing with this, this is largely an invisible illness,” she said.
Through her own pain, she started an advocacy group for others called React19.
“React 19 is an organization that we launched primarily out of necessity. The drug companies weren’t doing anything. The government definitely wasn’t going to do anything. And the needs of the people that are suffering from COVID vaccine adverse events, it’s profound—anything from compensation to being able to find a doctor that is just willing to recognize that this is an issue at all. We represent over 36,000 Americans. We have partnered with over 20 other organizations globally who are all founded by people that are harmed by COVID vaccines who are dedicated to providing this kind of emotional and physical support for others that are in this situation,” Dressen said.
“To date, React 19 … has donated over $900,000 to people that are harmed by COVID vaccines for out-of-pocket medical expenses. The reason why we have had to do this program is because the federal compensation program has only issued $470,000 total in the history of the program and $370,000 of that went to a death benefit. So the average payout has been about $1,500 per person that they’ve awarded.
“Sometimes these people need a little bit of money to be able to get there because they’re out of work, they can’t get disability, you know, and all of that income is then replaced with medical bills,” she added.
AstraZeneca eventually pulled its COVID vaccine from the market, blaming declining demand. In May, Dressen filed a lawsuit against the company for breach of contract.
“We filed the first and only case against the drug company in the United States. We are not suing for injury because just like anyone else, I too cannot sue for them injuring me. We are suing them due to contract violations because they did sign in their contract that they would pay for certain medical expenses and lost income and that they would provide some kind of medical help, and they did. They sent me one check for $590 and they sent me an offer, a settlement offer for $1,200 after that, six months later, when a new story ran that made them look bad. And that’s been it. So we spent years trying to get them to do the right thing and to provide some kind of assistance and they provided none. So we had no choice but to file this lawsuit,” Dressen said.
In court documents, the company has admitted its COVID vaccine can cause rare side effects.
Liz Collin
Liz Collin has been a truth-teller for 20 years as a multi-Emmy-Award-winning reporter and anchor. Liz is a Worthington, Minnesota native who lives in the suburbs with her husband, son and loyal lab.
