Sally Herms v. HHS - DTaP, sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus (2024)

Sally Herms, a 58-year-old adult, received a DTaP vaccination on June 18, 2017. Two days later, she experienced fever, muscle aches, and a feeling of being in a tunnel.

She awoke to find she was deaf in her left ear, and the following morning, she developed tinnitus in her left ear. These symptoms were diagnosed as sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and tinnitus.

Ms. Herms filed a petition for compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, alleging the DTaP vaccine caused her hearing loss and tinnitus.

The case proceeded as an off-Table claim, meaning Ms. Herms had to prove causation.

She presented expert opinions from Dr. Arthur Brawer and Dr.

Marcel Kinsbourne, who proposed theories of molecular mimicry and autoimmune attack, respectively, suggesting the DTaP vaccine triggered an immune response leading to her hearing loss. Respondent presented expert testimony from Dr.

Ross Kedl, who argued that the proposed theories were not scientifically sound, that molecular mimicry was an outdated concept, and that Ms. Herms' condition was likely coincidental.

The Special Master denied entitlement, finding that Ms. Herms failed to establish a sound and reliable medical theory connecting the DTaP vaccine to her hearing loss and tinnitus, and that the temporal proximity of her symptoms to the vaccination was insufficient on its own.

The court affirmed the Special Master's decision, agreeing that Ms. Herms did not meet her burden of proof under the Althen framework for establishing causation.

The petition was therefore denied.