Tara Dennington v. HHS - Tdap, Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) (2023)

Tara Dennington filed a claim alleging that a Tdap vaccine she received on August 30, 2015, caused her to develop Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). She had a prior history of GBS in 2005, diagnosed as Miller-Fisher variant, which resulted in significant fatigue and weakness.

In 2015, two days after receiving the Tdap vaccine, Dennington experienced numbness and tingling, which she reported as similar to her previous GBS onset. She was treated with IVIG and diagnosed with GBS, though her treating neurologist also considered chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) in his differential diagnosis.

Petitioner's expert, Dr. Carlo Tornatore, opined that the Tdap vaccine could cause GBS through molecular mimicry and that Dennington's case fit this theory, noting her rapid symptom onset as medically acceptable due to a presumed prior exposure (rechallenge).

Respondent's expert, Dr. Timothy Vartanian, disagreed, stating that medical literature did not support a causal link between the Tdap vaccine and GBS, that Dennington's prior GBS diagnosis was not definitively linked to a vaccine, and that her symptom onset was too soon for an adaptive immune response.

The Chief Special Master denied entitlement, finding that Dennington failed to establish a reputable medical theory connecting the Tdap vaccine to GBS via molecular mimicry, as her expert did not provide specific evidence linking the two. The Special Master also found the onset timeframe of two days to be medically unacceptable for an autoimmune response.

This decision was affirmed on review by the Court of Federal Claims, which agreed that Petitioner failed to establish a specific causal link between the Tdap vaccine and GBS, and that the onset timeframe was not medically acceptable. Therefore, the claim was denied.