Pfizer fails to provide evidence of 'threats’ that prevented vaccine director's attendance at inquest
Company deleted tweets and article linked to Dr Gillian Ellsbury
Vaccine manufacturer Pfizer has failed to provide any evidence of ‘social media threats’ that prevented a company executive travelling to Ireland.
Pfizer’s UK and Ireland Vaccines Medical Director Dr Gillian Ellsbury was called to attend an inquest into the death of a 14 year old boy.
Joseph McGinty from The Valley, Achill Island, Co Mayo, a second year student, collapsed at home early on the morning of September 13 2021. He died in an ambulance on the way to hospital, 24 days after receiving the Pfizer covid 19 vaccination.
Dr Ellsbury was Pfizer’s chief witness in the case.
Representing Pfizer Ireland, Roddy Bourke of McCann Fitzgerald in Dublin, told Coroner Patrick O’Connor at a preliminary inquest hearing in Swinford, Co Mayo last month that Dr Ellsbury would not be attending in person.
“There have been threats on social media regarding Pfizer personnel and vaccines and Dr Ellsbury has been advised not to travel. She is interested to assist the inquest but in a virtual capacity,” Mr Bourke said.
“It’s a pattern that is happening in recent times and it is a serious problem,” Mr Bourke said.
Speaking outside the court, Mr Bourke confirmed that it was company officials at Pfizer and not UK police that issued the advice not to travel to the inquest.
Dr Ellsbury presented her evidence to the inquest at Ballina Courthouse via videolink last Thursday.
In order to clarify the nature of the alleged threats, this Substack contacted both Pfizer Ireland and Pfizer UK asking for evidence of alleged ‘threats on social media.’ More than two weeks have passed without response.
This Substack conducted online searches in relation to Dr Ellsbury, in search of alleged threats. These searches threw up a number of deleted Tweets linked to Dr Ellsbury’s name on social media. Further searches revealed links posted by the Pfizer UK Twitter handle @Pfizer_UK related to Dr Ellsbury that were subsequently deleted.
Further queries asked the company to explain the deletion of Tweets and an article removed from the Pfizer website.
To date, the company has provided no response.
The inquest into Joseph McGinty’s unexpected death moved from Swinford Courthouse to Ballina Courthouse to facilitate Dr Ellsbury’s evidence via videolink on Thursday.
Barrister for the family Michael O’Connor SC for the McGinty family attempted to introduce a document into evidence ahead of Pfizer’s appearance. Coroner for the Mayo district Patrick O’Connor asked who had provided this document to the family’s legal team to which Mr O’Connor replied it was the result of an internet search.
The Coroner disallowed the introduction of the document on the basis that legal teams had months to prepare and it was too late at this point to introduce new evidence.
Dr Ellsbury presented a long and detailed statement tracking through the history and safety record of the Pfizer covid vaccine which she read into the record under oath.
On two occasions Mr O’Connor SC asked Dr Ellsbury to lean into her microphone in order that the court could hear what she was saying. The Coroner and each of the legal teams - representing the family, Pfizer and Mayo University Hospital have access to a printed copy of the statement. This Substack asked the court for a copy of Dr Ellsbury’s statement but this was denied. Legal representatives for Pfizer declined to provide a copy of the statement and a written application to the Coroner for the statement was also denied. The Coroner has indicated that he may or may not provide a copy of the statement after the inquest concludes on August 21.
In her statement, Dr Ellsbury answered questions submitted to Pfizer from the Coroner based on the particular circumstances of Joseph McGinty’s death. The details of this evidence will be covered in a separate post.
On Thursday, the final day of evidence, Mr O’Connor SC told Dr Ellsbury that his clients, the McGinty family would distance themselves from any threats but said they would obviously prefer she was present in court in person.
“The family are neither pro nor anti vaccine they just want to get to the truth,” Mr O’Connor SC said.
The barrister asked if it was Dr Ellsbury’s evidence that she could not travel to Ireland due to threats on social media. Dr Ellsbury, who was under oath, did not answer this question as the Coroner interjected and described the risks as ‘significant.’
“I don’t want to go into too much detail but there were significant risks for Pfizer attending here,” the Coroner said.
Central to Dr Ellsbury’s evidence is the question posed by Mr O’Connor SC on the existence of a ‘test or protocol or series of tests’ that could have been conducted at autopsy that rule in or out the vaccine as a cause of death - as reported in two mainstream media outlets (Journal.ie, Irish Independent ).
“Is there any test or protocol or series of tests that could have been carried out that could definitively rule in or out the vaccine as a cause of death?" Mr O’Connor SC asked Dr Ellsbury.
“I'm not aware of any test but I am not a pathologist so I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to comment on that,” Dr Ellsbury said.
(This testing protocol does exist as outlined here.)
In his report, Consultant Histopathologist Dr Michael McDermott, from whom a second opinion was sought gave the final cause of death as profound adrenal pathology consistent with Addison’s Disease. In his commentary, Dr McDermott noted substantive and chronic adrenal damage but said that to his knowledge any link to between these changes and the vaccine is ‘speculative at this point in time.’
All the evidence to be heard at the inquest concluded on Thursday. The Coroner invited final submissions from all parties on the medical cause of death, the appropriate verdict and recommendations before August 11 and adjourned delivery of the verdict until August 21.
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This is fantastic reporting. Old-fashioned journalism exposing the squirming for any dispassionate observer with half-a-brain. So even if the untenable status quo is upheld by the coroner it will only reinforce the grave injustice and stand on record to be revisited when the truth tsunami finally comes home to roost. When that happens, there will be no mitigation for any of the protagonists. This is last chance saloon for their consciences. Indeed, by the time the coroner publishes his findings, they may well be overtaken by events. It would serve him well to bear this in mind.
Just thinking.
Maybe the threats she received came from within 🤔