{"package_id":"USCOURTS-cofc-1_18-vv-01782","decision_granule_id":"USCOURTS-cofc-1_18-vv-01782-1","petitioner_identifier":"Lisa L. Arredondo","is_minor":0,"age_at_vaccination":51.0,"age_unit_raw":"years","vaccine_type":"influenza","vaccination_date":"2017-09-21","condition_raw":"Bell's palsy","condition_category":"bells_palsy","autism_spectrum_adjacent":0,"outcome":"compensated","award_amount_usd":180000,"decision_date":"2026-03-26","extraction_version":"manual-heavy-supplement-redo-2026-05","extracted_at":"2026-05-04 03:04:13","number_of_concurrent_vaccines":1,"dose_number":null,"time_to_onset_days":10,"theory_of_causation":"Influenza vaccine September 21, 2017, at age 51, causing right-sided Bell's palsy with onset October 1, 2017 (10 days). COMPENSATED. Theory: immune-mediated peripheral facial nerve injury through molecular mimicry/cross-reactivity after flu vaccination. Petitioner expert Dr. Lawrence Steinman; respondent experts included Dr. Brian Callaghan and Dr. J. Lindsay Whitton. MRI showed no intracranial cause; records documented persistent facial weakness/asymmetry, dry eye, synkinesis, hyperacusis, ear/facial pain, Botox, PT, ophthalmology and plastic-surgery care. SM Nora Beth Dorsey granted entitlement October 31, 2023, then awarded $180,000 pain/suffering plus life-care-plan items on March 26, 2026. Attorney: Lisa Roquemore.","is_death":0,"date_of_death":null,"petition_filed_date":"2018-11-19","case_summary":"On November 19, 2018, Lisa L. Arredondo filed a petition alleging that an influenza vaccination administered in her left deltoid on September 21, 2017 caused Bell's palsy. Ms. Arredondo was a 51-year-old registered nurse at the time of vaccination, and the flu shot was required for her work. Respondent contested causation.\n\nThe medical record placed onset on October 1, 2017, ten days after vaccination. Within days, Ms. Arredondo sought care for right-sided facial symptoms: difficulty closing her eye, drooping of the eyelid and mouth, ear and facial pain, numbness or paresthesia, difficulty eating, drinking, speaking, and drooling. Her primary care physician diagnosed Bell's palsy, prescribed acyclovir and steroids, and ordered a brain MRI, which did not show a significant intracranial abnormality. Her employer also filed a VAERS report noting facial paralysis and neck pain after the flu shot.\n\nThe illness did not resolve quickly. Ms. Arredondo later treated with neurology, plastic surgery, ophthalmology, physical therapy, acupuncture, and repeated Botox injections. The damages record described persistent right-sided facial weakness and asymmetry, lagophthalmos and dry eye, synkinesis, ptosis, hyperacusis, ear pain or hearing changes, facial spasms, difficulty chewing and speaking, and emotional distress from disfigurement and loss of normal facial expression. She described the injury as affecting her work, marriage, social life, eating in public, photographs with family and friends, and the ordinary ability to smile.\n\nFor entitlement, Ms. Arredondo relied principally on Dr. Lawrence Steinman, a Stanford neurologist, who described Bell's palsy as an inflammatory peripheral-nerve disorder and proposed molecular mimicry and immune cross-reactivity between influenza-vaccine antigens and facial-nerve targets. Respondent relied on neurology and immunology experts, including Dr. Brian Callaghan and Dr. J. Lindsay Whitton, who disputed whether the proposed ganglioside and peripheral-nerve antigen theories were reliable and whether the record showed vaccine causation.\n\nSpecial Master Nora Beth Dorsey found Ms. Arredondo entitled to compensation on October 31, 2023. She accepted the molecular mimicry theory as legally reliable for this case, found a logical sequence of cause and effect, found the ten-day onset medically acceptable, and found no persuasive alternative cause.\n\nThe parties could not resolve damages. Ms. Arredondo sought the $250,000 statutory cap for pain and suffering, while respondent argued for $140,000. On March 26, 2026, Special Master Dorsey awarded $180,000.00 for actual pain and suffering and also awarded funding for disputed life-care-plan items, including ongoing eye and mouth care supplies and a humidifier, with the parties directed to finalize the complete life care plan and confirm previously agreed amounts for lost wages and out-of-pocket expenses.","is_minor_inferred":0,"is_pediatric_broad":0,"special_master":"Nora Beth Dorsey","petitioner_identifier_original":null,"caption_petitioner_name":null,"petitioner_attorney_name":"Lisa Roquemore","petitioner_attorney_firm":"Law Office of Lisa A. Roquemore","petitioner_attorney_location":"Rancho Santa Margarita, CA","adjudicator_name":null,"caption_people_backfilled_at":null,"attorney_canonical_keys":"|lisa-roquemore|","firm_canonical_key":"law-office-of-lisa-a-roquemore","package_title":"ARREDONDO v. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES","canonical_url":"https://vicp-registry.org/case/USCOURTS-cofc-1_18-vv-01782","plain_text_url":"https://vicp-registry.org/case/USCOURTS-cofc-1_18-vv-01782.txt","json_url":"https://vicp-registry.org/case/USCOURTS-cofc-1_18-vv-01782.json","source_documents":[{"granule_id":"USCOURTS-cofc-1_18-vv-01782-0","title":"ARREDONDO v. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES","docket_text":"PUBLIC RULING (Originally filed: 10/31/2023) regarding 92 Ruling on Entitlement. Signed by Special Master Nora Beth Dorsey. (kis) Service on parties made.","date_issued":"2023-11-27","pdf_url":"https://api.govinfo.gov/packages/USCOURTS-cofc-1_18-vv-01782/granules/USCOURTS-cofc-1_18-vv-01782-0/pdf","pdf_bytes":542506,"triage_decision":"keep","triage_reason":"docketText matches keep keyword 'ruling on entitlement'","download_status":"ok","registry_pdf_url":"https://vicp-registry.org/pdf/USCOURTS-cofc-1_18-vv-01782/USCOURTS-cofc-1_18-vv-01782-0"},{"granule_id":"USCOURTS-cofc-1_18-vv-01782-1","title":"ARREDONDO v. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES","docket_text":"PUBLIC ORDER/RULING (Originally filed: 3/26/2026) regarding 163 Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law. Signed by Special Master Nora Beth Dorsey. (aevw) Service on parties made.","date_issued":"2026-04-28","pdf_url":"https://api.govinfo.gov/packages/USCOURTS-cofc-1_18-vv-01782/granules/USCOURTS-cofc-1_18-vv-01782-1/pdf","pdf_bytes":411426,"triage_decision":"keep","triage_reason":"docketText matches keep keyword 'findings of fact'","download_status":"ok","registry_pdf_url":"https://vicp-registry.org/pdf/USCOURTS-cofc-1_18-vv-01782/USCOURTS-cofc-1_18-vv-01782-1"}]}