Zelma Taylor v. HHS - Influenza, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (2018)

Zelma Taylor filed a petition on September 19, 2013, alleging that an influenza (flu) vaccination she received on September 29, 2010 caused her to develop acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM). At the time of vaccination, petitioner was an 18-year-old college student at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi on a full academic scholarship.

An entitlement hearing was held on April 17, 2017 and May 25-26, 2017. The central dispute was when Ms.

Taylor's neurological symptoms began. Petitioner argued for onset approximately two weeks after vaccination, pointing to a flag football injury on October 14, 2010, accompanied by reports of weakness and fatigue.

Special Master Corcoran found, however, that the record did not support neurological onset until December 2010 — nearly eleven weeks post-vaccination — when Ms. Taylor first complained of intermittent left foot numbness.

Ms. Taylor was not hospitalized until February 13, 2011 (over four months post-vaccination), when MRI revealed extensive demyelinating lesions throughout the white matter and brainstem, leading to an initial ADEM diagnosis.

Respondent's expert argued that oligoclonal bands in the CSF and a 2016 MRI showing progressive lesions were more consistent with MS. Special Master Corcoran denied entitlement on March 9, 2018, finding that the approximately eleven-week interval from vaccination to first neurological symptom was too long to support vaccine-caused ADEM, which requires onset within a few weeks.

The claim failed on the third Althen prong (proximate temporal relationship), and the Special Master also found significant evidentiary deficiencies on the second prong. As of the hearing, Ms.

Taylor was confined to a wheelchair and required constant care. No compensation was awarded.