Eileen Schmigel v. HHS - Influenza, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (2025)

Eileen Schmigel filed a petition alleging that she suffered from Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP) following an influenza vaccination on October 21, 2015. The court found that CIDP is not a Table injury and that Ms.

Schmigel would need to prove causation-in-fact under the Althen test. The court previously found that Ms.

Schmigel experienced numbness and tingling in her extremities around late November 2015, approximately five weeks after her vaccination, but did not experience weakness until July 2016, about nine months later. Respondent argued that Ms.

Schmigel's symptoms were better explained by diabetic neuropathy, a condition she had a history of. Petitioner's expert, Dr.

Chen, argued that Ms. Schmigel's condition was an atypical presentation of CIDP, potentially triggered by the vaccine, and that diabetes was not the primary cause.

Respondent's expert, Dr. Donofrio, maintained that Ms.

Schmigel's symptoms were consistent with diabetic neuropathy and that her condition did not meet the diagnostic criteria for CIDP, nor was there sufficient evidence to link it to the flu vaccine. The court found that the evidence preponderated in favor of Ms.

Schmigel suffering from both diabetic neuropathy and later CIDP, but that the timing of the CIDP onset (around July 2016) was too distant from the vaccination to infer causation. Furthermore, the court noted that none of Ms.

Schmigel's treating physicians opined that her vaccination caused her condition, and that her pre-existing diabetes was a significant factor. Ultimately, the court concluded that Ms.

Schmigel failed to meet her burden of proof under the Althen test for both a logical sequence of cause and effect and a proximate temporal relationship. Therefore, her petition was dismissed.