VICP Registry Case Source Bundle
Canonical URL: https://vicp-registry.org/case/USCOURTS-cofc-1_16-vv-01027
Package ID: USCOURTS-cofc-1_16-vv-01027
Petitioner: Skylee Butler
Filed: 2016-11-30
Decided: 2018-12-27
Vaccine: HPV
Vaccination date: 2013-08-21
Condition: 
Outcome: dismissed
Award amount USD: 

AI-assisted case summary:
Skylee Butler received an HPV vaccination on August 21, 2013. Her mother, Crystal Butler, initially filed a petition for vaccine compensation on her behalf on August 18, 2016, alleging that Skylee suffered injuries caused by the vaccine. Skylee Butler was later substituted as the petitioner. The petitioner alleged that her injuries were caused-in-fact by the vaccination. However, the record did not contain sufficient evidence to establish entitlement to an award under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Specifically, there was no evidence of a "Table Injury" (an injury listed on the Vaccine Injury Table), nor was there persuasive medical evidence demonstrating that the alleged injury was vaccine-caused or vaccine-related. The petitioner did not offer a competent medical opinion to support her claim. Consequently, the petitioner filed a motion for dismissal, and the case was dismissed for insufficient proof.

Theory of causation field:
unclear

Public staged source text:

================================================================================
DOCUMENT 1: USCOURTS-cofc-1_16-vv-01027-0
Date issued/filed: 2018-12-27
Pages: 2
Docket text: PUBLIC DECISION (Originally filed: 11/30/2018) regarding 46 DECISION of Special Master. Signed by Special Master Mindy Michaels Roth. (mw) Service on parties made.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Case 1:16-vv-01027-UNJ Document 49 Filed 12/27/18 Page 1 of 2
In the United States Court of Federal Claims
OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS
No. 16-1027V
Filed: November 30, 2018
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
SKYLEE BUTLER, * UNPUBLISHED
*
Petitioner, * Dismissal; Insufficient Proof;
* Human Papillomavirus (“HPV”)
v. * Vaccine
*
SECRETARY OF HEALTH *
AND HUMAN SERVICES, *
*
Respondent. *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Andrew Downing, Esq., Van Cott & Talamante, PLLC, Phoenix, AZ, for petitioner.
Ashley Simpson, Esq., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, DC for respondent.
DECISION1
Roth, Special Master:
On August 18, 2016, Crystal Butler filed a petition for Vaccine Compensation in the
National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (“the Program”)2 on behalf of her then-minor
child, S.B. Skylee Butler (“Ms. Butler” or “petitioner”) was substituted as petitioner on October
9, 2018. ECF No. 44. Petitioner alleges that she has suffered injuries which were caused-in-fact
by a human papillomavirus (“HPV”) vaccination she received on August 21, 2013. See Amended
Petition, ECF No. 14. The information in the record, however, does not show entitlement to an
1 Although this Decision has been formally designated “unpublished,” it will nevertheless be posted on the
Court of Federal Claims’s website, in accordance with the E-Government Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-
347, 116 Stat. 2899, 2913 (codified as amended at 44 U.S.C. § 3501 note (2006)). This means the Decision
will be available to anyone with access to the internet. However, the parties may object to the Decision’s
inclusion of certain kinds of confidential information. Specifically, under Vaccine Rule 18(b), each party
has fourteen days within which to request redaction “of any information furnished by that party: (1) that is
a trade secret or commercial or financial in substance and is privileged or confidential; or (2) that includes
medical files or similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
privacy.” Vaccine Rule 18(b). Otherwise, the whole Decision will be available to the public. Id.
2 The Program comprises Part 2 of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, Pub. L. No. 99-660,
100 Stat. 3755, codified as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa-10 et seq. (hereinafter “Vaccine Act” or “the
Act”). Hereafter, individual section references will be to 42 U.S.C. § 300aa of the Act.

Case 1:16-vv-01027-UNJ Document 49 Filed 12/27/18 Page 2 of 2
award under the Program. On November 30, 2018, petitioner filed a Motion for Dismissal Decision
requesting that her case be dismissed. ECF No. 45.
To receive compensation under the Program, petitioner must prove either 1) that she
suffered a “Table Injury” – i.e., an injury falling within the Vaccine Injury Table – corresponding
to her vaccination, or 2) that she suffered an injury that was actually caused by a vaccine. See §§
13(a)(1)(A) and 11(c)(1). An examination of the record did not uncover any evidence that
petitioner suffered a “Table Injury.” Further, the record does not contain persuasive evidence
indicating that petitioner’s alleged injury was vaccine-caused or in any way vaccine-related.
Under the Act, petitioner may not be given a Program award based solely on the petitioner’s
claims alone. Rather, the petition must be supported by either medical records or by the opinion
of a competent physician. § 13(a)(1). In this case, because there are insufficient medical records
supporting petitioner’s claim, a medical opinion must be offered in support. Petitioner, however,
has offered no such opinion that supports a finding of entitlement.
Accordingly, it is clear from the record in this case that petitioner has failed to demonstrate
either that she suffered a “Table Injury” or that her injuries were “actually caused” by a
vaccination. Thus, this case is dismissed for insufficient proof. The Clerk shall enter judgment
accordingly.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
s/ Mindy Michaels Roth
Mindy Michaels Roth
Special Master
2