Darlene Henry v. HHS - Influenza, tinnitus, skin rashes, light sensitivity, subconjunctival hemorrhage (2022)

Darlene Henry filed a petition alleging that she developed tinnitus, skin rashes, light sensitivity, and subconjunctival hemorrhage following her November 20, 2014 influenza vaccination. She was 49 years old at the time of vaccination.

Her primary theory was that the vaccine caused Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease (AIED) with tinnitus as a symptom. The medical records detail numerous visits to various specialists for tinnitus, eye redness, and other symptoms, with onset of tinnitus reported approximately 20 hours after vaccination.

Petitioner's expert, Dr. Gershwin, opined that a subclinical viral infection, amplified by the flu vaccine, led to an autoimmune response causing AIED.

Respondent's experts, Dr. Phillips, Dr.

Whitton, and Dr. Ying, argued against vaccine causation, citing a lack of evidence for a viral infection at vaccination, the unsuitability of the rapid onset for an autoimmune response, and the prevalence of alternative diagnoses for Petitioner's tinnitus, such as somatosensory tinnitus related to temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction and cervical musculoskeletal problems.

The Special Master found that Petitioner failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that she had a viral infection at the time of vaccination, that her correct diagnosis was AIED, or that the flu vaccine caused her condition. The court noted that Petitioner's tinnitus improved with treatments for TMJ and somatic dysfunction, supporting a diagnosis of somatosensory tinnitus rather than AIED.

The rapid onset of symptoms (20 hours) was also deemed too soon to infer vaccine causation for an autoimmune response. Consequently, the petition was denied.