Guy Irwin v. HHS - Influenza, stroke and its sequelae (2024)

Guy Irwin filed a petition for compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, alleging that he suffered a stroke and its sequelae as a result of receiving an influenza vaccine on November 7, 2014. Mr.

Irwin, who was 62 years old at the time, reported feeling ill on the evening of the vaccination and experienced more pronounced symptoms, including headache, dizziness, and visual changes, by November 9, 2014, leading to his hospitalization and diagnosis of an acute ischemic stroke. Petitioner's expert, Dr.

Carlo Tornatore, opined that the influenza vaccine induced an inflammatory response leading to a pro-thrombotic state and the ischemic stroke, supported by medical literature on vaccine-induced inflammation and case reports of strokes following vaccination. Respondent's experts, Dr.

Steven Messé and Dr. Stephen Hedrick, argued that the stroke was unrelated to the vaccine, citing the lack of evidence for a pro-thrombotic state post-vaccination, the commonality of cryptogenic strokes, and Mr.

Irwin's risk factors like hypertension. They also contended that influenza vaccines are protective against stroke and do not elicit an inflammatory response as significant as a wild infection.

The Special Master found that Mr. Irwin established by a preponderance of the evidence that the influenza vaccine caused his stroke, satisfying the three prongs of the Althen test: a medically plausible theory, a logical sequence of cause and effect, and a proximate temporal relationship.

Entitlement to compensation was granted, with damages to be determined in a separate order.