Sarah K. Jones v. HHS - Hepatitis B, transverse myelitis (2020)
Case summary [AI summaries can sometimes make mistakes]
Sarah K. Jones filed a petition on January 2, 2019, seeking compensation through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
Ms. Jones alleged that she developed transverse myelitis as a result of receiving a hepatitis B vaccination on March 15, 2017.
She also received hepatitis A, yellow fever, and typhoid vaccines on the same date. Ms.
Jones reported experiencing flu-like symptoms approximately 15 days after vaccination. Later, in mid-May 2017, she began to experience tingling in her legs.
She was admitted to the hospital on July 5, 2017, with numbness and tingling, and was discharged three days later with a diagnosis of transverse myelitis. Later medical assessments, including one by neurologist Carlos Pardo-Villamizar, suggested that her condition, an acute myelopathic syndrome, appeared to be temporally related to a yellow fever vaccination.
Ms. Jones was admitted to UNC Healthcare on August 24, 2017, for worsening symptoms, and a neurologist there included transverse myelitis in the differential diagnosis, noting that it has been associated with hepatitis B, typhoid, and yellow fever vaccines.
She received a transverse myelitis diagnosis before her discharge on September 8, 2017. Ms.
Jones's petition stated that the hepatitis A and B vaccines caused her transverse myelitis or significantly aggravated an underlying disorder. However, Ms.
Jones was unable to retain a medical expert to support her claim that the hepatitis B vaccine caused her transverse myelitis. The case proceeded on the written record.
Special Master Christian J. Moran considered the case and found that Ms.
Jones failed to establish the three prongs of the Althen test for off-Table claims. The decision noted that Ms.
Jones did not present a persuasive medical theory connecting the hepatitis B vaccine to transverse myelitis, did not clearly establish the onset of symptoms within a medically acceptable timeframe for causation, and consequently, did not demonstrate a logical sequence of cause and effect. Many of her treating doctors attributed her condition to the yellow fever vaccine.
Therefore, Ms. Jones was denied compensation.
The decision was issued on May 27, 2020.
Theory of causation
Petitioner Sarah K. Jones, born April 21, 1968, received a hepatitis B vaccine on March 15, 2017, along with hepatitis A, yellow fever, and typhoid vaccines. She alleged that the hepatitis B vaccine caused her transverse myelitis. The case was decided on the written record as petitioner was unable to retain a medical expert. Special Master Christian J. Moran denied compensation, finding petitioner failed to meet the three prongs of the Althen test for off-Table claims. Prong one (medical theory) was not met as petitioner relied on non-binding precedent and medical literature without expert interpretation or articulation of a specific theory connecting hepatitis B vaccine to transverse myelitis. Prong three (temporal relationship) was not met due to unclear onset of symptoms and reliance on prior adjudications rather than expert opinion. Prong two (logical sequence of cause and effect) was not met, compounded by most treating physicians attributing the condition to the yellow fever vaccine, and no clear evidence linking the hepatitis B vaccine. Petitioner's counsel was Glen H. Sturtevant, Jr. Respondent's counsel was Linda S. Renzi. Decision date: May 27, 2020.
Source PDFs
USCOURTS-cofc-1_19-vv-00003