John Mason v. HHS - Influenza, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) (2022)

John Mason, born February 9, 1948, received an influenza vaccine on October 9, 2014. He alleged that he developed chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) as a result of this vaccination.

Mr. Mason's pre-vaccination medical history included numerous conditions, and he had been experiencing foot pain and numbness for several years prior to the vaccination.

He also had elevated inflammatory markers (ESR and CRP) in September 2014. Following vaccination, his symptoms of foot pain, numbness, and swelling continued and evolved.

Medical records and expert opinions were presented by both parties. Petitioner's expert, Dr.

Lawrence Steinman, opined that the flu vaccine caused Mr. Mason's CIDP through molecular mimicry and that the onset of symptoms was medically acceptable post-vaccination.

Respondent's expert, Dr. Dara Jamieson, opined that Mr.

Mason suffered from a small fiber peripheral neuropathy, not CIDP, and that his symptoms predated the vaccination. The Special Master found that while Mr.

Mason likely did have CIDP, he failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the flu vaccine caused his condition. The decision noted that the medical records strongly suggested his symptoms predated vaccination, making it impossible to prove the vaccine was causal.

Furthermore, the onset timeframe was not definitively established as post-vaccination, and the scientific link between the flu vaccine and CIDP was considered weaker than that for Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). Therefore, entitlement was denied.