R.D.S. v. HHS - Influenza, cerebral palsy (2014)

On September 23, 2013, Raymond and Wanwilai Somosot filed a petition on behalf of their minor son, R.D.S., alleging that an influenza vaccine administered on December 19, 2007, caused R.D.S. to develop cerebral palsy (CP). R.D.S. was nine months old at the time of vaccination.

The petitioners alleged that the first symptoms of R.D.S.'s CP occurred on May 12, 2011, the date of his diagnosis. However, the medical records indicated earlier symptoms, including poor feeding from birth, microcephaly at birth, gross motor delays by March 2008, global developmental delays and delayed speech by May 2008, failure to thrive and hypertonic muscles by August 2008, and inability to crawl or walk independently by October 2008.

The Special Master, Laura D. Millman, dismissed the petition as untimely, finding that the first symptoms of R.D.S.'s condition indicative of cerebral palsy occurred in 2008, which was more than three years before the petition was filed.

This decision was sustained by Judge Lynn J. Bush.

The court affirmed the Special Master's decision, holding that the statute of limitations begins to run from the first symptom or manifestation of onset, not the date of diagnosis. The court also denied the petitioners' subsequent request for attorneys' fees and costs, finding that the petition lacked a reasonable basis due to its clear untimeliness based on the medical records and established case law.

The public decision does not describe the specific mechanism of causation alleged by the petitioners or detail the specific clinical findings of the treating physicians beyond what is noted in the medical records.