Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a recognized expert in cardiac health, is known for his public advocacy around medical and pharmaceutical ethics. He began questioning the safety of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines after his father died of a vaccine-induced heart attack in 2022, and later went public with his concerns.
But what most people don’t know is that before his father died, Malhotra himself was injured after receiving two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in 2020 and 2021.
“Within a few weeks of being vaccinated, I suffered inexplicable, significant clinical depression that was diagnosed by a psychiatrist and that lasted several months,” Malhotra told The Defender. “I needed psychotherapy to help me get better — and was 80% there when my father suffered a sudden cardiac arrest.”
Malhotra isn’t alone. Studies and V-safe data link COVID-19 vaccines to a host of mental health issues.
In some cases, victims and their family members attributed mental health issues directly to COVID-19 vaccines.
In others, people report that physical vaccine injuries led to mental health issues — in chronic pain with no access to treatment, they report struggling with daily life, professional obligations and strained relationships with loved ones.
Some people — including the family of a person who committed suicide — told The Defender their mental health suffered when federal health agencies refused to acknowledge the injuries they reported to V-safe and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).
An analysis by The Defender of data reported to V-safe during the COVID-19 pandemic identified over 300 reports of severe psychiatric disorders, including reports of suicide and attempted suicide, triggered by the COVID-19 vaccine.
Those interviewed said the V-safe data reflect their own experiences or those of their injured family members. Some described being gaslit by their doctors.
Psychotherapist Joseph Sansone, Ph.D., author of “Psychopathic Authoritarianism: A Disease of the Soul,” said it’s not uncommon for physicians to dismiss the vaccine-injured and their struggles.
“Medical doctors, in many cases, told them to get the injections,” Sansone said. “Now, when the victims are suffering from chronic disease and illness, these same doctors gaslight the victims and not admitting the injuries and diseases are from the shots.” This often leads to feelings of “betrayal and violation” among the injured.
Following last week’s announcement that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is launching a new clinic to study and treat vaccine injuries, people interviewed by The Defender called for more — and better — treatment of vaccine injuries and a stronger focus on the mental health struggles that often accompany these injuries.
