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OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) – A British Columbia man has launched a lawsuit against AstraZeneca, the federal government of Canada, the provincial government of his province, and the pharmacy at which he was injected after receiving what he considers inadequate compensation from the country’s Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP).

Ross Wightman, 41, who is from Lake Country, British Columbia, received the AstraZeneca shot in April 2021 and shortly after became totally paralyzed. He was subsequently diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS).

He was one of the first citizens in Canada to receive federal financial compensation due to a COVID vaccine injury under VISP.

In a lawsuit submitted to the B.C. Supreme Court, Wightman noted the reasoning for his lawsuit, saying, “What was being offered by the government is so inadequate for people like myself who have been injured.”

Wightman said, as per The Epoch Times, that he was not given enough time to make an informed decision as to the risks associated with the COVID jabs.

His lawsuit names AstraZeneca Canada, B.C. Interior Health, the federal and provincial government, Verity Pharmaceuticals, Hogarth’s Clinic Pharmacy, and the name of the person who injected him.

He noted that before he got the jab he was “generally extremely healthy,” but 10 days after he had to visit the emergency room multiple times and was finally admitted to the hospital once he felt tingling in his face.

“I had full facial paralysis,” said Wightman, as reported by the National Post last year.

“I could blink, but I couldn’t smile or show my teeth at all and had paralysis from the waist down as well.”

Before the jab, he worked as a real estate agent and pilot.

In all, Wightman spent two months in the hospital and had to have months of rehab before he could walk again.

He noted to The Epoch Times that his ordeal has been “devastating … literally from head to toe.”

“I lost hair, my vision was blurry for about a year, and I was in excruciating pain that drugs don’t even touch,” he said.

Canadian mainstream media throughout the COVID crisis barely mentioned the now-known fact that the COVID jabs approved for use in Canada and elsewhere are all linked to possible, and sometimes even fatal, side effects.

A study from the United Kingdom last year showed that AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 injection is linked with a significant increase in GBS between two and four weeks after it is administered.

Most Canadian provinces quietly stopped administering the AstraZeneca vaccine only a few months after it was approved for use.

In fact, in March 2021, Canada stopped the distribution of the jab from being given to people under age 55 after numerous reports indicating the product may be linked to blood clots.

At a COVID vaccine hearing in February 2022 held by U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, lawyer Thomas Renz presented medical billing data from the Pentagon’s Defense Medical Epidemiology Database that showed drastic spikes in Guillain-Barre syndrome (551%) in 2021.

Wightman’s lawsuit has goal of getting proper compensation for his injuries

Wightman’s road to receiving compensation has been long.

He applied for VISP compensation in the summer of 2021 with the help of his wife. In May 2022, Wightman shared on Facebook a letter he received from Canada’s newly created VISP program.

The letter notified Wightman that VISP had concluded his injuries were more than likely to have been related to the one AstraZeneca shot he received. The VISP program also said that he was eligible for financial compensation.

“First and foremost, we would like to offer you our deepest sympathies for your ongoing health struggles. We wish you the strength and support to sustain you during this difficult time and wish to thank you for submitting a claim with the VISP,” the letter reads.

“Following an assessment of your case, it has been determined by our Medical Review Board that there is a probable causal association between the injury(ies) sustained and the vaccination. As such, your claim has been approved for compensation.”

Under VISP, a person can receive a maximum lump sum of $284,000. Wightman did not qualify for the full amount but instead was eligible for a maximum of $90,000 per year, or what is income replacement.

Wightman noted how he has spoken to many Canadians who have not been able to get their jab injuries recognized by their doctors or be able to qualify under VISP.

“There just needs to be more access to funds and support,” he noted.

“In my opinion, for people like myself. (The vaccine injury) obviously affects me, but also my wife and my kids,” he added.

According to VISP, there were 1,299 people who have applied to the program for compensation from June 2021 until December 2022. Of these claims, 1,067 have been determined to be “admissible.”

However, only 50 claims have been approved to date, “where it has been determined by the Medical Review Board that there is a probable link between the injury and the vaccine, and that the injury is serious and permanent.”

Thus far, $2,779,277 has been paid out.

Canada was one of only a handful of nations that did not have a vaccine injury compensation program until the COVID injections were approved for use in late 2020.

In December 2020, VISP was launched after the Canadian government gave vaccine makers a shield from liability regarding COVID-19 jab-related injuries.

According to the VISP website, the program is being administered and delivered “independently” by the Canadian accounting and tax firm Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton, with funding from Canada’s Public Health Agency.

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