No Duty of Care: Ontario Court Dismisses Lawsuit Over 17-Year-Old’s Death 33 Days After COVID Vaccine

The Ontario Court of Appeals has dismissed the case of Dan Hartman, who sued federal Canadian government officials following the death of his 17-year-old son Sean, who died 33 days after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine as a requirement to participate in hockey. The lawsuit alleged the Attorney General of Canada and the Minister of Health, Patricia A. Hajdu, showed negligence, reckless indifference, and/or willful blindness in approving and promoting the vaccine. The lawsuit alleged the officials should have known that the vaccine was minimally effective and that severe risks included severe illness and death.

Dan Hartman said they were disappointed with the verdict but noted they have 7 days to appeal the decision again. He expressed reluctance to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada because it would cost between $15,000 and $30,000, which has a high likelihood of receiving the same rejected outcome that the lower court ruled and the appeals court upheld. The family has a crowdfunding page on GiveSendGo to cover court costs if they do ultimately decide to take the appeal to the Supreme Court.

Hartman and his lawyers argued the Canadian officials failed to provide a duty of care to Sean, but the courts ruled the officials only have to consider a broad duty of care to the greater public rather than a private duty of care to individuals. The court considered only two core questions: whether the officials had a private duty of care to Sean and whether they acted in bad faith or engaged in deliberate unlawful conduct.

“Sean didn’t have informed consent. Neither did anyone else in Canada,” Harman said. “They didn’t say you could die if you get the shot, and the inserts were left intentionally blank. How could a 17-year-old sitting down in a chair in a community center know the possible risks or have informed consent when the inserts were blank?”

During the Emergency Use Authorization of the COVID-19 vaccines in Canada and the U.S., regulators allowed manufacturers to leave the inserts intentionally blank. Providers were required to discuss common side effects and serious risks of the vaccine before administration, but a cross-sectional survey of Ontario health care workers indicates that coercion was common and the majority of patients did not receive informed consent.

89.1% of patients disagreed or strongly disagreed that they felt free to choose whether to get the vaccination or not. 64.4% felt coerced by their employers, and 59% did not receive any written information about the vaccine.

Sean Hartman was a high school hockey player who needed to get the vaccination to continue playing the sport. As a 17-year-old, Canada considers him to be a “mature minor,” which means he is capable of making the decision on his own without parental consent or involvement. Dan said he did not take him to get the shot, he didn’t authorize the vaccination, and he didn’t know his son Sean received the COVID-19 vaccination until the day he died.

Cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough reviewed Sean Hartman’s autopsy and determined that Sean died from fatal vaccine myocarditis. Dr. McCullough conducted a comprehensive review of clinical trial data, reanalyses, post-marketing surveillance, large observational studies, and other research sources to compare the incidence of myocarditis following SARS-CoV-2 infection with that of COVID-19 vaccine-induced myocarditis. Dr. McCullough and his co-authors concluded that public health agencies falsely stated that myocarditis was more common following COVID-19 infection than following vaccination. Furthermore, Dr. McCullough and co-authors stated that the risk-benefit analysis does not favor the continued use of these vaccines.

Dan Hartman submitted a claim to the Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP), but the claim was denied in 2022. The denial said Sean had mild right and left “ventricular enlargement,” described as “not uncommon” for young male athletes like Sean. Hartman submitted an appeal with a pathology report from Dr. Ryan Cole, who concluded that Sean’s death was caused by spike protein in the adrenal glands.

The VISP has been criticized for being slow and not approving many applications, much like the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) in the United States. As of December 1, 2025, the VISP had received 3,557 claims. 451 were ruled as inadmissible, while the rest were sent for medical review. 1,400 claims have been reviewed by the medical board, and more than 850 are still collecting medical records. So far, 252 claims have been approved for a total of $21 million in compensation. That is an average of just under $8,000 per case.

The HighWire reported last month about a lawsuit against the Chicago White Sox alleging the team coerced him to get vaccinated and caused a subsequent permanent autonomic nervous system disorder that ended his career.

Hartman will have to decide with his lawyers by Friday, April 24, whether they will move forward with an appeal to the Supreme Court.