Lakia Brayboy v. HHS - HPV, premature ovarian failure/insufficiency (2022)

On February 26, 2015, Lynette Brayboy filed a petition for compensation on behalf of her minor daughter, Lakia Brayboy, under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The petition alleged that the human papillomavirus (HPV), also known as Gardasil, vaccinations Lakia received on July 21, 2012, September 26, 2012, and February 6, 2013, caused her to suffer from premature ovarian failure/insufficiency (POF/POI).

The respondent, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, argued that the petitioner had not met her burden of proof, as she failed to establish a logical cause-and-effect relationship between the vaccinations and the alleged injury. The case was consolidated with other POI matters to assess the viability of the causation theory proposed in each case.

Following several rounds of expert reports and status conferences, Special Master Herbrina Sanders issued a ruling on August 30, 2021, finding that the consolidated POI cases presented a causation theory that survived the first prong of the Althen test under limited, specific circumstances. A subsequent status conference was held on December 14, 2021, to discuss whether preponderant evidence showed that Petitioner suffers from POI with an autoimmune etiology.

Petitioner requested and was granted an extension to file updated medical records and indicate whether the case would proceed or be dismissed. Following this extension, Petitioner indicated a decision to withdraw her claim and dismiss the case due to insufficient proof.

On April 11, 2022, Petitioner filed an unopposed motion for dismissal. To receive compensation, Petitioner needed to prove either a "Table Injury" or that her injury was actually caused by a vaccine.

The record did not contain persuasive evidence of a "Table Injury." Furthermore, the record lacked sufficient evidence to prove that Petitioner's POI was autoimmune in nature, which was necessary to establish causation by a preponderance of the evidence. The public decision does not describe the specific symptoms, medical records, treatments, or expert names beyond the general discussion of the causation theory.

The case was dismissed for insufficient proof without an award. Special Master Herbrina Sanders issued the dismissal decision on April 18, 2022, which was posted on May 3, 2022.

Petitioner was represented by Mark T. Sadaka of the Law Offices of Sadaka Associates, LLC, and Respondent was represented by Lara A.

Englund of the U.S. Department of Justice.