Robert Carlyle Perdue, Jr. v. HHS - Influenza, Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) (2017)

On December 3, 2015, Teresa Dianne Perdue, as Administrator of the Estate of Robert Carlyle Perdue, Jr., filed a petition for compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Petitioner alleged that Mr.

Perdue received a trivalent influenza vaccine on December 23, 2014, and that his death on January 25, 2015, resulted from Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) caused by the vaccination. Mr.

Perdue received the vaccination in the United States. Petitioner represented that there had been no prior award or settlement of a civil action for damages on Mr.

Perdue's behalf as a result of his alleged injury and death. The respondent denied that the flu vaccine caused Mr.

Perdue to suffer GBS or any other injury, and further denied that Mr. Perdue's death was a sequela of a vaccine-related injury.

Despite the respondent's denials, the parties filed a joint stipulation for compensation on December 14, 2016. Chief Special Master Nora Beth Dorsey found the stipulation reasonable and adopted it as the decision of the Court.

The parties stipulated that petitioner would receive a lump sum of $475,000.00, payable to Teresa Dianne Perdue as Legal Representative of the Estate of Robert Carlyle Perdue, Jr., representing compensation for all damages available under 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-15(a). The public decision does not describe the specific onset of symptoms, medical tests, treatments, or the mechanism of causation.

The attorneys involved were Carrol M. Ching for the petitioner and Glenn A.

MacLeod for the respondent.