J.J.D. v. HHS - Hepatitis B, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) (2019)

Jordia Nunez and John Diaz, as legal representatives of their infant son J.J.D. (J.J.), filed a petition on September 17, 2014, alleging that J.J. died from adverse effects of multiple vaccines administered on November 14, 2012. J.J., born prematurely at twenty-nine weeks and two days gestation, received Hepatitis B, Rotavirus, DTaP, HiB, IPV, and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines during his four-month well-baby visit.

The following morning, November 15, 2012, J.J. was found unresponsive and not breathing, and was pronounced dead at the hospital. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Petitioners presented expert testimony from Dr. Douglas Miller, a neuropathologist, who opined that J.J. was a vulnerable infant under the Triple Risk Model for SIDS due to prematurity, male gender, and a brainstem defect, and that the vaccinations acted as an exogenous stressor, triggering the SIDS death.

Respondent presented expert testimony from Dr. Christine McCusker, a pediatric immunologist, and Dr.

Rebecca Folkerth, a neuropathologist. They challenged the evidence of a brainstem defect and the theory that vaccinations could cause SIDS.

The Special Master, Herbrina Sanders, denied the petition on March 29, 2019, finding that petitioners failed to prove causation-in-fact under the Althen standard. The Special Master concluded that while J.J. was likely a vulnerable infant, the vaccinations were not proven to be an exogenous stressor that caused his death.

The Special Master found Dr. Miller's theory regarding vaccine-induced cytokine responses leading to SIDS unpersuasive, noting that the proposed mechanism was not logical and that Dr.

McCusker's expert testimony was more credible. The United States Court of Federal Claims, through Senior Judge Loren A.

Smith, affirmed the Special Master's decision on September 6, 2019, finding it was not arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law. The case was ultimately denied compensation.

An earlier decision on September 25, 2015, by Special Master Lisa Hamilton-Fieldman awarded interim attorneys' fees and costs totaling $12,000.00.