Donald Randolph v. HHS - Influenza, Guillain-Barré syndrome (2020)

Donald Randolph filed a petition on January 2, 2020, alleging that he developed Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) after receiving an influenza vaccine on September 22, 2014. He claimed symptom onset on October 29, 2014, which would have been within the 42-day window for a Table claim.

However, the court found that the medical records did not support this early onset. Contemporaneous records from December 2014 indicated that Mr.

Randolph's symptoms began around that time, approximately 76 days after vaccination, which is outside the Table's timeframe. The court also addressed the statute of limitations and a "lookback provision" related to a recent amendment to the Vaccine Injury Table that included GBS for flu vaccines.

While the petition was filed within the lookback period, the court determined that the provision only applies to claims that would have been timely under the Table. Since Mr.

Randolph's claim did not meet the Table's onset requirements, and the claim was otherwise untimely, it could not proceed as a non-Table claim. The court concluded that the evidence did not preponderantly support a finding of onset within the Table's timeframe and that the claim was untimely.

Therefore, the petition was dismissed.