Lindsey Pelton v. HHS - DTaP, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome; Asphyxia (2017)

On July 29, 2014, Lindsey Pelton, as parent of the deceased infant N.L.P., filed a petition under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The petition alleged that vaccines administered on August 23, 2012, caused N.L.P.'s death the following day, when he was four months old.

The vaccines identified were DTaP, Hepatitis B, IPV, Hib, pneumococcal conjugate, and rotavirus. The petitioner contended that N.L.P. suffered from vaccine-caused Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) or an unspecified vaccine-caused death.

The respondent argued that N.L.P. died of asphyxia due to prone co-sleeping in an adult bed, as indicated on the death certificate and autopsy report. Chief Special Master Nora Beth Dorsey issued a decision on February 27, 2017, dismissing the petition, finding that the petitioner had not met her burden of proving causation by a preponderance of the evidence.

Petitioner was represented by Patricia A. Finn of Patricia Finn, P.C., and respondent was represented by Ryan D.

Pyles of the United States Department of Justice. N.L.P. was born prematurely at 33 weeks on April 22, 2012.

He spent his first week in the neonatal intensive care unit due to prematurity, receiving phototherapy for elevated bilirubin and experiencing episodes of bradycardia. He was discharged in stable condition.

Subsequent well-child visits showed good weight gain, and he was treated for reflux. At his two-month visit, he received immunizations including Hep B, Pentacel, Rotovirus, and Prevnar 13.

At his four-month visit on August 23, 2012, he had a low-grade fever and drooling, but was otherwise well. He received Pentacel, Prevnar 13, and Rotovirus vaccines.

That evening, N.L.P. was placed in bed with his mother, Ms. Pelton, and reportedly rolled onto his stomach.

During the night, Ms. Pelton changed his diaper and fed him.

She awoke the next morning around 11:00 a.m. to find N.L.P. unresponsive and not breathing. Emergency responders attempted resuscitation without success.

A scene investigation revealed an adult bed with elevated head and foot, creating a dip in the middle, and saliva and blood in the sleeping area. The autopsy, performed by Dr.

Jonathan Eisenstat, noted facial lividity with blanching around the nose and mouth, and internal petechiae. Dr.

Eisenstat concluded that N.L.P. died of asphyxia due to accidental prone co-sleeping in an adult bed. The death certificate listed asphyxia from prone co-sleeping in an adult bed as the cause and manner of death.

Petitioner's expert, pediatric pathologist Dr. Laurel Waters, disputed the asphyxia conclusion, suggesting the death was SIDS or an unspecified vaccine-caused death.

She argued that traditional asphyxia findings were not definitively present and that findings like petechiae could be consistent with SIDS. She proposed a "triple risk" model for SIDS and suggested vaccines could be an exogenous stressor.

Respondent's expert, pediatric pathologist Dr. Sara Vargas, agreed with the autopsy and death certificate findings, opining that vaccines are not known to cause or contribute to asphyxia and that the evidence strongly supported asphyxia as the cause of death.

Chief Special Master Dorsey found Dr. Waters's theory insufficient under the Althen standard.

The decision noted that the SIDS literature did not link vaccines to N.L.P.'s death, and the scene and autopsy evidence supported accidental asphyxia. The Special Master concluded that timing alone, one day after vaccination, was insufficient to prove causation.

The petition was dismissed.