Cynthia Jenkins v. HHS - Influenza, tinnitus, vertigo, headache, dural thickening, hearing loss, and facial neuropathy (2026)

Cynthia Jenkins, a 59-year-old retired school nurse, filed a petition alleging that the influenza vaccine she received on December 19, 2016, caused her to suffer a range of injuries, including tinnitus, vertigo, headaches, meningitis, and a cerebrospinal fluid-venous fistula (CSF leak). She had inadvertently received a second flu vaccine dose on that date, approximately three months after her annual flu shot.

Jenkins reported flu-like symptoms within 24 hours of the second vaccination, followed by severe tinnitus and dizziness within four days. Her initial medical records noted otitis externa and later tinnitus and hearing loss.

An MRI revealed diffuse dural enhancement, leading to differential diagnoses including meningitis, intracranial hypotension, and pachymeningitis. While one treating neurologist, Dr.

Matarese, initially suggested a possible autoimmune reaction to the vaccine causing aseptic meningitis, another neurologist, Dr. Witte, was not convinced of a vaccine link and suggested further investigation.

As her symptoms recurred and evolved, further evaluations led to a diagnosis of a CSF-venous fistula, which was treated with a blood patch and later a vascular procedure. Petitioner's experts, Dr.

Ghacibeh and Dr. Akbari, proposed theories linking the vaccine to aseptic meningitis and subsequently the CSF-venous fistula, or to demyelinating neuropathy.

Respondent's expert, Dr. Wilson, opined that the CSF-venous fistula was a structural defect, a known cause of pachymeningitis, and was not vaccine-related.

The court found that Jenkins failed to establish a reputable medical theory under the Althen test that the flu vaccine could cause aseptic meningitis or that aseptic meningitis could cause a CSF-venous fistula. Furthermore, the court determined that the evidence did not preponderantly support a logical sequence of cause and effect linking the vaccine to her injuries, nor a proximate temporal relationship.

Ultimately, the court concluded that Jenkins did not meet her burden of proof and denied her petition for compensation.