Bobbie Sholdebrand v. HHS - Hepatitis B, tension headaches or New Daily Persistent Headaches (NDPH) (2025)

Bobbie Sholdebrand filed a petition on September 7, 2018, alleging that hepatitis B vaccinations given on April 6, 2016, and May 18, 2016, caused neck pain, loss of range of motion, tension headaches, or New Daily Persistent Headache. She also received a Tdap vaccine on April 6, 2016, but the litigated claim focused on the Hepatitis B vaccinations.

The record was extensive. Ms.

Sholdebrand was 43 at vaccination and had prior shoulder and cervical complaints, including left shoulder pain, bicipital tendonitis, shoulder pain with radiculopathy, and later a 2018 motor vehicle accident. After the April 2016 work-related needle-stick visit, she received Tdap and Hepatitis B vaccines.

The records documented muscle tension, neck and shoulder complaints, and later headache complaints, but the Special Master found that tension headache or NDPH was not consistently diagnosed in the contemporaneous records. Petitioner relied on Dr.

Marcel Kinsbourne and Dr. Marko Bodor.

Dr. Kinsbourne proposed immune and cytokine-based theories for chronic headache; Dr.

Bodor proposed nonspecific inflammation and a cycle of neck muscle tightness leading to headaches. Respondent relied on Dr.

Dara Jamieson and Dr. You-Wen He.

Dr. Jamieson opined that the presentation fit neck and shoulder pain related to cervical spondylosis and preexisting problems, not vaccine-caused NDPH or tension-type headache.

Dr. He criticized the proposed immunologic mechanisms and the literature support.

Special Master Nora Beth Dorsey denied compensation on May 7, 2025. She found that Ms.

Sholdebrand had not proven a reliable medical theory, a logical vaccine-caused sequence, or a medically acceptable timing under Althen. No vaccine-injury compensation was awarded.

A later fee decision addressed attorney fees and costs only.