Panel rules MMR jab made girl deaf – but not enough for payout

A woman has won her fight to prove she was left deaf by the MMR jab – only the second time it has been linked to disability.

But a medical assessment panel ruled Katie Stephen, 21, will not receive compensation because she is not considered disabled enough.

Katie was given the measles, mumps and rubella jab in 1991 when she was 15 months old.

But she developed a fever and irreparable damage to the nerve between her brain and ear, and is deaf on her left side.

Officials at the Vaccine Damage Payment Unit accepted the vaccine was the likely cause of her hearing problems.

But the body, run by the Department for Work and Pensions, ruled out compensation as she was only ‘20 per cent disabled’.