K.G. v. HHS - Influenza, Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and/or Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP) (2023)
Case summary [AI summaries can sometimes make mistakes]
K.G., a 48-year-old woman, received an influenza vaccine on October 12, 2011. She later filed a petition alleging that this vaccine caused her to develop Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and/or Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP).
The initial decision in this case, filed on November 5, 2018, dismissed the petition as untimely. The court found that K.G.'s claim accrued no later than February 2012, and the three-year statute of limitations would have expired in February 2015.
While K.G. argued for equitable tolling due to mental incapacity from November 2012 to May 2016, the court determined that tolling should have ceased in March 2014 when her sister was appointed as her legal guardian, who had the authority to file a claim on her behalf. The court also noted that even if the claim were considered under the recent Table amendment for GBS, it failed because the medical evidence overwhelmingly supported a CIDP diagnosis, which is an exclusionary criterion for GBS under the Table, and the onset of symptoms was outside the Table's timeframe.
K.G. appealed this dismissal. On March 6, 2019, the Court of Federal Claims affirmed the Special Master's decision, holding that equitable tolling does not continue once a legal guardian is appointed, as the guardian has the statutory authority to file a claim.
The court emphasized that the Vaccine Act provides for legal representatives to act on behalf of disabled individuals and does not contain a savings clause that would extend tolling beyond the guardian's appointment. Ultimately, the court found that the petition was filed well after the statute of limitations expired, even with the period of mental incapacity without a guardian considered.
However, a subsequent decision on January 17, 2023, shows that the parties reached a stipulation to settle the case. Respondent denied causation but agreed to compensation.
The stipulation awarded K.G. a lump sum of $102,941.76, plus $14,558.24 to satisfy a State of Iowa Medicaid lien, for a total award of $117,499. This settlement resolved all claims related to the alleged vaccine injury.