C.K.G. v. HHS - Hepatitis A, significant aggravation of seizures and migraines (2015)

On August 8, 2013, Ishwar and Penny Gopichand, as parents and guardians ad litem for their daughter C.K.G., filed a petition alleging that a hepatitis A vaccine administered on August 19, 2010, significantly aggravated C.K.G.'s preexisting complex migraine headaches and seizure disorder. The respondent is the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

C.K.G. was born on January 8, 2001. The public decision does not describe the specific symptoms or onset of the alleged aggravation following vaccination.

The respondent filed a Rule 4(c) report on June 2, 2014, recommending against compensation. Petitioners were granted multiple extensions, totaling over seven months, to obtain an expert report supporting vaccine causation or significant aggravation.

On January 15, 2015, petitioners notified the court that they were unable to obtain an expert who could reasonably expect to qualify under the Althen standards. On January 20, 2015, petitioners' counsel orally moved for a ruling on the record.

Special Master Laura D. Millman dismissed the petition on January 20, 2015, finding that the medical records did not establish that the hepatitis A vaccine caused any marked worsening of C.K.G.'s seizure disorder or migraines.

The Special Master held that petitioners had not supplied expert medical opinion or other reliable medical evidence connecting the vaccination to the claimed aggravation, and thus had not made a prima facie case of causation or significant aggravation. No compensation was awarded for the alleged injury.

Petitioners were represented by Peter J. Sarda.

On April 22, 2015, Special Master Millman issued a decision awarding attorneys' fees and costs based on a stipulation of fact between the parties. The total award for attorneys' fees and costs was $26,472.30, consisting of $26,072.30 for attorneys' fees and costs payable jointly to petitioners and Creech Law Firm, P.A., and $400.00 for petitioners' costs payable to petitioners.