B.P. v. HHS - Hepatitis A, pediatric arterial ischemic stroke due to an inflammatory focal cerebral arteriopathy (2022)

On December 29, 2016, Marcel and Sarah Pelletier filed a petition on behalf of their minor child, B.P., alleging that a Hepatitis A vaccine administered on August 14, 2015, caused her to suffer a pediatric arterial ischemic stroke due to inflammatory focal cerebral arteriopathy (FCA). B.P. was two years old at the time of vaccination.

Symptoms, including left arm weakness and tremor, began approximately 11-12 days after the vaccination, coinciding with a mild fever and vomiting. Medical evaluations revealed a stroke affecting the right basal ganglia, and B.P. was diagnosed with left-sided hemiplegic cerebral palsy.

Petitioners' expert, Dr. Kevin Shapiro, argued that the Hepatitis A vaccine could trigger FCA through an inflammatory and hypercoagulable immune response.

Respondent's expert, Dr. Dana Cummings, contended that a mild, contagious viral illness B.P. likely had two days before symptom onset was a more probable cause, citing medical literature that links infections, but not vaccines, to pediatric stroke.

The court found that Petitioners failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the Hepatitis A vaccine can cause pediatric stroke or that it likely caused B.P.'s injury. The court noted the lack of treating physician opinions attributing the stroke to the vaccine and found the evidence more supportive of a viral illness as the cause.

Therefore, entitlement to compensation was denied. The decision was issued by Chief Special Master Brian H.

Corcoran on July 7, 2022.