Nicole Solomon v. HHS - Influenza, Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) (2015)

Nicole Solomon filed a petition for compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program on August 19, 2014, alleging she suffered symptoms including dizziness, numbness, fatigue, tingling, and pain after receiving an influenza vaccine on September 20, 2011, and a tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (TDP) vaccine on October 6, 2011. She believed her symptoms were consistent with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) and causally connected to the vaccinations.

The public decision does not describe the petitioner's counsel or respondent's counsel. The Special Master was Chief Special Master Nora Beth Dorsey.

The court noted that compensation cannot be awarded based solely on a petitioner's claims without substantiation from medical records or expert opinions. Solomon failed to file a medical expert report, and the court found the medical records did not support her claims.

The case was dismissed for insufficient proof. The medical records indicated a history of sinus infections, surgeries, Bell's palsy, and allergies.

Solomon's symptoms began around October 26, 2011, with numbness and dizziness, and progressed to involve all four extremities. Her initial neurologist, Dr.

Caryn M. Vogel, who treated her during the onset of symptoms and for the following two years, never mentioned GBS and diagnosed her with fibromyalgia, attributing her improvement to medication.

Another neurologist, Dr. Cynthia K.

McGarvey, who began treating Solomon two years after her symptoms started, opined that it was likely she had GBS with residual symptoms, but this opinion was based on information provided by Solomon that conflicted with contemporaneous medical records and occurred after her condition had reportedly resolved. The court found Dr.

Vogel's diagnosis of fibromyalgia to be more trustworthy. Because Solomon failed to establish that she suffered from GBS, the court determined she could not prove causation.

Even if GBS were established, she failed to satisfy the three prongs of the Althen test for off-Table claims, lacking an expert report, evidence of a proximate temporal relationship, and a logical sequence of cause and effect. Therefore, the petition was dismissed.