Tina Walker v. HHS - Influenza, polyneuropathy (2021)

Tina Walker filed a petition alleging that she suffered polyneuropathy as a result of receiving an influenza vaccine on November 5, 2015. She filed her petition with the Court of Federal Claims on October 25, 2018.

The case was brought as an off-Table claim, meaning Ms. Walker had the burden to prove that the vaccine caused her injury.

To do so, she needed to present a medical theory connecting the vaccine to her condition, a logical sequence of cause and effect, and a proximate temporal relationship. The court noted that compensation cannot be awarded based on claims alone and requires supporting medical records or expert opinions.

In this case, the medical records were deemed insufficient, and Ms. Walker did not present an expert opinion to support her claim of vaccine causation.

Consequently, Ms. Walker filed a motion to dismiss her own petition, understanding that this would result in a judgment against her and end her rights to compensation for this vaccine injury.

The court granted her motion, and the case was dismissed for insufficient proof. The decision was issued on May 20, 2021.