C.L.H.R. v. HHS - Influenza, seizures, learning disabilities, speech disabilities (2021)

On January 9, 2020, Ron and Samantha Richards, pro se, filed a petition under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program on behalf of their minor child, C.L.H.R. They alleged that an influenza vaccine administered on November 23, 2015, caused C.L.H.R.'s first seizure at six months of age, which triggered further seizures and led to learning and speech disabilities.

The respondent, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, moved to dismiss the case, arguing it was filed outside the Vaccine Act's three-year statute of limitations and was unlikely to succeed on the merits. The Special Master, Nora Beth Dorsey, had repeatedly ordered petitioners to file complete medical records.

The records that were filed indicated a seizure occurred around December 13, 2015. Because the petition was filed in January 2020, more than three years after the seizure onset, the claim was deemed untimely.

The Special Master also found that petitioners failed to prosecute the claim and failed to substantiate vaccine causation after multiple orders and an order to show cause. The case was dismissed on March 30, 2021, with no compensation awarded.