Girl killed by rare heart tumour not cancer jab, says coroner

Deputy coroner for Coventry, Louise Hunt, found that the death of 14-year-old Natalie Morton was not linked to a HPV vaccine administered at her school last September.

The inquest at Coventry Magistrates' Court heard that Natalie's underlying condition was so rare that a pathologist had never come across it before in the body of a child.

Recording a verdict of natural causes, Mrs Hunt said: "I am satisfied that there was no connection between the HPV vaccine and Natalie's death.

"Natalie had a previously unrecognised, extensive tumour of the heart which ultimately caused her death. It was a death that could have happened at any time."

Natalie, of Stoke, Coventry, died on September 28 last year after being taken ill at the city's Blue Coat Church of England School, little more than an hour after receiving the vaccine.

Natalie's death led to a precautionary recall of one batch of the HPV vaccine, but the inquest heard that Natalie's death was not due to an allergic reaction.

Detailing the findings of a post-mortem examination, pathologist Dr Alexander Kolar described Natalie's underlying condition as so severe that she could have died at any time.

Dismissing anaphylactic shock as a possible factor, Dr Kolar told the inquest: "There is no evidence to support any role for anaphylaxis in this case.

"The extent of the tumour is such that it is of a type where death could have occurred at any point. She was very vulnerable at any time, at sleep or any other point."

Post-mortem tests had shown that the 15-centimetre tumour was a malignant lymphoma which was aggressive and rapidly growing, Dr Kolar added.

The inquest also heard that Natalie had visited a GP and seen a consultant paediatrician in the months before her death, after experiencing dizziness and headaches.

Her father, John Morton, said Natalie, who wanted to be a school teacher, was assessed by a consultant five days before her death and had not been well since late June last year.

Her mother, Elaine Bullock, a health care assistant, said her daughter had had several infections in the period leading up to her death.