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Vaccine Injury of Christopher A Dreisbach


What was your life like before you received the COVID-19 vaccine?

Prior to receiving my COVID-19 vaccination in March of 2021, I was a healthy practicing attorney. At the time, my wife and I had been married 16 years, our oldest daughter was in third grade, and our younger son and daughter (fraternal twins) were in first. Surrounded by supportive family and close friends, our weekends were booked with sporting events, birthday parties, and social gatherings with friends and family. While my life had not been without challenges, I no doubt had much for which to be grateful.
And then, at the urging of government officials and federal health agencies, and based upon their assurances that the vaccine was completely safe and effective, I rolled up my sleeve... Ever since, my life has been a story of before and after that moment.

Describe the symptoms and the timeline of the reaction.

As a result of severe adverse autoimmune reaction to my vaccination in March of 2021, I have been afflicted and diagnosed with Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP), a debilitating condition that I will live with for the rest of my life. CIDP occurs when the body's immune system attacks the myelin sheaths around nerve cells in the peripheral nervous system. The result is not unlike an electrical wire stripped of its insulation, resulting in broken signals and extreme dysfunction.
I have been hospitalized and treated by the Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins, and Penn - and yet I have found no significant relief from painful electrical shock sensations throughout my body, muscle spasms, extreme fatigue, and significant challenges to my mental recall and focus.
While my new physical reality is a profound change for me, it pales in comparison to the effect my condition has had on my family. As I am unable to work or drive and spend much of my days in the bathtub, on the couch, or in bed, my wife has, in many ways, become a single parent. In addition to being the sole breadwinner, she is also the only parent able to chauffeur our children and attend their events, or manage daily household responsibilities. My injury has further altered our family dynamic by preventing me from participating in many social events, attending our children's activities, or even engaging with my family at home. While our children are resilient, they have unquestionably been negatively impacted by my condition.
And while many these challenges are certainly experienced by anyone facing a serious chronic illness, the COVID-19 vaccine-injured face unconscionable obstacles unique to our experience. We have been gaslit by the medical community, abandoned and censored by our own government, and ostracized by a significant percentage of the population – including, in some cases, by our close friends and family. In short, our collective experience personifies the concept of insult being added to injury.
I can attest to having personally experienced many of these injustices.
When I began to experience symptoms just days after my first dose, I was told by a senior physician that my painful paresthesias were the result of anxiety - for which he prescribed nothing more than breathing into a brown paper bag. Having been told that my symptoms were all in my head and having my doctor shut down the possibility that my symptoms were caused by the vaccine, I proceeded to receive a second dose and soon found myself hospitalized. In the hospital, I had the distinct impression that saying the word “vaccine” in the context of my condition was the equivalent of saying Voldemort inside Hogwarts. To the extent those physicians skirted the issue, my lead neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic had no problem saying the quiet part out loud. In response to my observation that my symptoms were consistent with atypical Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS) (N.B. my eventual diagnosis of CIDP is the chronic version of GBS) he curtly replied: “We need to do a better job of people not associating the vaccines with GBS.” Hippocratic oath be damned, he made it abundantly clear that supporting the nationwide vaccine rollout was his primary goal, rather than treating the sick patient sitting before him in the exam room. Sadly, I now know my experience being gaslit by treatment providers is all too often the norm for the COVID-19 vaccine-injured, rather than an unfortunate exception in my case.
Unfortunately, our government’s treatment of the COVID-19 vaccine-injured has been no less egregious than that of the medical establishment. Faced with the grim reality that I will likely never work again; I researched legal recourse for those suffering from serious adverse events following Covid vaccination. I was disheartened to quickly learn that the PREP Act provides near bulletproof immunity for vaccine manufacturers. The Covid vaccine-injured are forced to lodge claims with a woefully inadequate program known as the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP) rather than the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) – the program available to those injured by other vaccines.
Due to its unrealistic filing deadline, impossible standard of proof, paltry benefits, conflicting interests, and lack of judicial review the CICP rejects nearly 98% of claims. Until very recently, the CICP had compensated just twelve Covid vaccine-injured individuals in the entire United States - with combined awards totaling less than $50,000. In short, the government stripped away our due process rights while offering no reasonable alternative.
In addition to stripping us of our due process rights, which would allow us to seek compensation for our losses, the government has also proactively pressured social media companies and the Stanford Internet Observatory’s Virality Project to monitor and censor our online support groups under the auspices that we are spreading dangerous “misinformation.” While trying to connect with others in these on-line forums, I quickly learned that we were required to write in code lest we trigger an algorithm which would result in our groups being deplatformed. The most shocking aspect of this blatant First Amendment violation is that the White House was fully aware that “often-true content” was being censored because it might “be framed as sensation, alarmist, or shocking.” Similarly, the Virality Project recommended “adverse event stories” be suppressed because they might be “employed to push back against vaccine mandates” – not because they weren’t accurate descriptions of real-life suffering.
In addition to censoring sick patients searching for answers, elected officials on both sides of the aisle have irresponsibly politized any discussion regarding COVID-19 vaccine injuries. As a result, often even our close friends and family cannot help but view our illnesses through a toxic political lens. For example, a close friend of mine commented that he “believes I believe” something is wrong with me, implying, of course, that my symptoms are merely psychosomatic. Would someone ever write off a cancer patient suffering in the same manner? Sadly, many of my fellow injured have experienced similar social interactions.
Despite all of these hardships, my fellow vaccine-injured and I have a resource that ultimately will overcome these challenges – each other. I am eternally grateful that through some of my early individual advocacy efforts, I was connected with React19 and currently serve as its Legal Affairs Director. React19 is a science-based nonprofit offering physical, financial, and emotional support for those suffering from serious adverse events following their Covid vaccinations. We currently represent over 36,000 Americans in our quest to “turn our negative reactions into positive action.”
True to our motto, within our injured community, I have met some of the most courageous and resilient individuals I have ever known. Each day, they set aside their pain, fatigue, and frustration in service to their fellow injured. Our members epitomize persistent perseverance. They personify commitment to a cause greater than self.
Since its inception, React19 members have:
• Collaborated with world-renowned experts in the Yale School of Medicine’s LISTEN Study, examining the corresponding immune responses in those diagnosed with Long Covid and those of us suffering from “Long Vax.”
• Filed two Federal lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the PREP Act’s CICP immunity provisions.
• Filed an additional Federal lawsuit seeking to enjoin the government’s censorious treatment of our community.
• Successfully lobbied for the introduction of comprehensive Federal vaccine injury compensation program reform legislation.
• Provided crucial support to Congressional oversight committees.
• Fundraised and distributed over $850,000 directly to the vaccine-injured in need.
• Shared crucial treatment protocols with our members, including immunotherapies often unknown or disregarded by treating physicians.

While we are extremely proud of these achievements, we still have much to do...

Describe the solutions that helped your symptoms

Hot baths, focusing on family, gratitude, acceptance, and independent physicians.

Which solutions were not helpful?

Treatment from "experts" employed by large hospital corporations - especially the Cleveland Clinic.

What would you like others to know?

React19 will not stop fighting until the COVID-19 vaccine-injured receive the justice we deserve.
  • I certify that the statements made in the above submission are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information and belief.
  • I agree to allow React 19 to share my testimonial publicly on its website, social media, or webinar platforms. I further understand that my testimonial will be posted publicly and React 19 cannot prevent third-parties from sharing it once public.
  • I agree to notify React 19 immediately should I discover inaccuracies in my testimonial in order to maintain the integrity of React 19's advocacy platform.
The individual experience shared above is offered for informational purposes only. React19 neither endorses nor recommends any treatment(s) noted therein. React19 does not diagnose medical conditions, offer treatment advice, treat illnesses, or prescribe medicine or drugs. It is strongly recommended that, prior to acting upon any information gleaned from a shared experience, you first consult a physician.