{"package_id":"USCOURTS-cofc-1_17-vv-01836","decision_granule_id":"USCOURTS-cofc-1_17-vv-01836-0","petitioner_identifier":"T.B.D.","is_minor":1,"age_at_vaccination":0.148,"age_unit_raw":"years (54 days; DOB in source)","vaccine_type":"Pentacel (DTaP/IPV/Hib), hepatitis B, Prevnar 13, rotavirus","vaccination_date":"2015-12-15","condition_raw":"acute/chronic encephalopathy; hypersensitivity myocarditis; ventricular dysrhythmia/cardiac arrest; hypoxic-ischemic brain injury","condition_category":"encephalitis_encephalopathy","autism_spectrum_adjacent":1,"outcome":"entitlement_granted_pending_damages","award_amount_usd":null,"decision_date":"2025-09-02","extraction_version":"manual-supplement-redo-2026-05-normal43","extracted_at":"2026-05-05 00:26:54","number_of_concurrent_vaccines":5,"dose_number":1,"time_to_onset_days":0,"theory_of_causation":"Pentacel (DTaP/IPV/Hib), hepatitis B, Prevnar 13, and rotavirus vaccines on December 15, 2015, age 54 days, followed by acute/chronic encephalopathy, hypersensitivity myocarditis, ventricular dysrhythmia/cardiac arrest, and hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. ENTITLEMENT GRANTED; damages pending in staged public text. Petitioners argued the first infant vaccine set caused myocarditis and cardiac arrest leading to hypoxic-ischemic brain injury and neurologic sequelae. Respondent disputed causation. Special Master Dorsey granted entitlement in a ruling filed September 2, 2025.","is_death":0,"date_of_death":null,"petition_filed_date":"2017-11-27","case_summary":"On November 27, 2017, Vanessa K. Drake and Lance Drake, as parents and legal representatives of their minor child, T.B.D., filed a petition under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. They alleged that T.B.D. suffered injuries, including ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, hypoxic ischemic brain damage, and cardiomyopathy, caused by the diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTaP), inactivated poliovirus (IPV), Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), rotavirus, pneumococcal conjugate (Prevnar 13), and hepatitis B (Hep B) vaccines administered on December 15, 2015. Petitioners later amended their petition to include acute hypersensitivity myocarditis and a Vaccine Injury Table claim for acute encephalopathy. The respondent opposed compensation, disputing the nature of the injury, whether Table requirements were met, and whether the vaccines caused T.B.D.'s cardiac and neurologic injuries.\n\nT.B.D. was born prematurely at thirty-six weeks on October 22, 2015. His antenatal genetic testing and newborn metabolic screen were normal, and he was discharged in good health. On December 15, 2015, at his two-month checkup, his physical and cardiovascular examinations were normal. The record noted possible temporary developmental delay related to prematurity. On that day, at 3:13 to 3:14 p.m., he received Pentacel (DTaP/Hib/IPV), hepatitis B, Prevnar 13, and rotavirus vaccines.\n\nThe clinical events began the evening of December 15, when T.B.D. screamed forcefully and remained inconsolable for about three hours after the vaccinations until given infant Tylenol. The next morning, December 16, his mother described him as lethargic and less responsive, and his grandmother noted he seemed detached and unfocused. At approximately 1:45 p.m. on December 16, T.B.D. awoke with a piercing cry while nursing, his eyes rolled back, his skin and lips turned pale, and he became silent and lifeless. Emergency responders found him with agonal respirations and a slow pulse; during transport, he lost pulse and respirations, CPR was initiated, and he was found to be in fine ventricular fibrillation. At Glendale Adventist Medical Center, he was unresponsive and had no cardiac activity. He was stabilized, intubated, and transferred to Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA).\n\nDuring his hospitalization at CHLA until January 19, 2016, T.B.D. was treated for persistent supraventricular tachycardia and intermittent ventricular tachycardia with amiodarone. Cardiology suspected the arrest was likely related to an arrhythmia. Echocardiograms showed mild to moderate left ventricular hypertrophy and abnormal left ventricular diastolic function. Cardiac MRI showed moderate asymmetric hypertrophy of the interventricular septum and stated that myocarditis could not be excluded. Troponin I and BNP levels were markedly elevated and later normalized. EKGs documented various arrhythmias, including ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. Doctors considered myocarditis, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, genetic causes, metabolic causes, aspiration, seizures, and pulmonary disease.\n\nNeurology noted a brain MRI showing restricted diffusion in the right posterior insular cortex and posterior temporal lobe, suggestive of infarction or hypoperfusion injury after the cardiac arrest. It also showed periventricular white-matter changes thought to be older, likely perinatal or related to prematurity. T.B.D.'s attending neurologist assessed two separate brain insults: an acute or subacute injury likely from the cardiac arrest, and a more remote white-matter injury. At discharge, T.B.D. was summarized as having presented with ventricular fibrillation and cardiac arrest, ectopic atrial tachycardia, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and was neurologically appropriate after resuscitation. He was discharged on amiodarone, enoxaparin, and propranolol after developing a deep vein thrombosis.\n\nPost-hospitalization workups for cardiac conditions, including genetic screening, whole exome testing, metabolic studies, cardiomyopathy testing, and testing for Brugada syndrome, were unrevealing or negative. By April 2016, T.B.D. was clinically stable with no apparent arrhythmias. He continued physical and occupational therapy for gross motor delay. By November 2016, a neurologist stated T.B.D. was developmentally caught up and seizure-free. Treating physicians did not give a definitive causation opinion, but Dr. Silka noted that the cause of the cardiac arrest remained undefined and that a possible adverse reaction to immunization remained a distinct possibility. Dr. Hartstein filed a VAERS report and provided a permanent medical exemption for all vaccinations.\n\nPetitioners relied on pediatric cardiologist Dr. Anthony Chang, who opined that vaccination caused acute hypersensitivity myocarditis leading to cardiac arrest and hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. Pediatric neurologist Dr. Perry Lubens supported the DTaP Table claim, opining that T.B.D.'s pre-arrest observations indicated a significantly decreased level of consciousness consistent with vaccine-induced acute encephalopathy.\n\nRespondent relied on pediatric cardiologist Dr. Richard E. Ringel, who disagreed with the hypersensitivity myocarditis diagnosis and proposed vomiting with aspiration or viral myocarditis as possible explanations. Pediatric neurologist Dr. Peter M. Bingham attributed the decreased alertness to the cardiac arrest and its aftermath, not a pre-arrest vaccine encephalopathy, and believed chronic neurologic findings were more likely related to older white-matter abnormalities.\n\nSpecial Master Nora Beth Dorsey granted entitlement on September 2, 2025. On the Table claim, she found T.B.D. had a significantly decreased level of consciousness within seventy-two hours of DTaP vaccination, lasting at least twenty-four hours, and that this acute encephalopathy resulted in chronic encephalopathy lasting more than six months, with no exclusionary criteria met. In the alternative, Special Master Dorsey found the causation-in-fact claim proven, accepting that vaccinations can cause post-vaccination hypersensitivity myocarditis, leading to cardiac arrest and hypoxic-ischemic brain injury, supported by T.B.D.'s clinical course, diagnostic studies, treating physicians' considerations, and the absence of an alternative cause. Petitioners were represented by Armond Marcarian of Marcarian Law Firm, P.C. The decision granted entitlement, with damages to be resolved separately.","is_minor_inferred":0,"is_pediatric_broad":1,"special_master":"Nora Beth Dorsey","petitioner_identifier_original":null,"caption_petitioner_name":null,"petitioner_attorney_name":"Armond Marcarian","petitioner_attorney_firm":"Marcarian Law Firm, P.C.","petitioner_attorney_location":"Woodland Hills, CA","adjudicator_name":null,"caption_people_backfilled_at":null,"attorney_canonical_keys":"|armond-marcarian|","firm_canonical_key":"marcarian","package_title":"DRAKE et al v. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES","canonical_url":"https://vicp-registry.org/case/USCOURTS-cofc-1_17-vv-01836","plain_text_url":"https://vicp-registry.org/case/USCOURTS-cofc-1_17-vv-01836.txt","json_url":"https://vicp-registry.org/case/USCOURTS-cofc-1_17-vv-01836.json","source_documents":[{"granule_id":"USCOURTS-cofc-1_17-vv-01836-0","title":"DRAKE et al v. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES","docket_text":"PUBLIC ORDER/RULING (Originally filed: 09/02/2025) regarding 98 Ruling on Entitlement. Signed by Special Master Nora Beth Dorsey. (aevw) Service on parties made.","date_issued":"2025-09-29","pdf_url":"https://api.govinfo.gov/packages/USCOURTS-cofc-1_17-vv-01836/granules/USCOURTS-cofc-1_17-vv-01836-0/pdf","pdf_bytes":571797,"triage_decision":"keep","triage_reason":"docketText matches keep keyword 'ruling on entitlement'","download_status":"ok","registry_pdf_url":"https://vicp-registry.org/pdf/USCOURTS-cofc-1_17-vv-01836/USCOURTS-cofc-1_17-vv-01836-0"}]}