Hatim M. Salah v. HHS - Influenza, transverse myelitis (2024)

Hatim Salah, a 29-year-old police officer, filed a petition alleging that he developed transverse myelitis (TM) as a result of the influenza vaccine he received on October 21, 2016. The Special Master found that Mr.

Salah did not demonstrate that the flu vaccine caused his condition. The court credited the opinion of Respondent's expert, Dr.

Price, and the Petitioner's treating physicians, that Mr. Salah suffered from a viral infection that began approximately eight days before the onset of his TM symptoms.

Medical literature indicates that viral infections are a known cause of TM, and the timing of Mr. Salah's viral illness in relation to his TM symptoms weakened the argument for vaccine causation.

The court found that Mr. Salah failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the flu vaccine caused his TM, and therefore, his petition was dismissed.