Rodney Koehl v. HHS - Hepatitis B, epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA) (2025)
Case summary [AI summaries can sometimes make mistakes]
On February 24, 2020, Rodney Koehl filed a petition for compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, alleging that his hepatitis B (Hep B) vaccinations caused him to develop epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA). Mr.
Koehl received a three-dose series of the Hep B vaccine, with the first dose on December 22, 2016, the second on January 23, 2017, and the third on July 24, 2017. He was 49 years old at the time of his first vaccination.
The parties agreed that Mr. Koehl suffers from EBA, but disputed the onset date and causation.
Respondent argued against compensation, stating the case was not appropriate for compensation under the Act. The court found that Mr.
Koehl failed to provide preponderant evidence that his Hep B vaccinations caused his EBA, thus failing to satisfy the three prongs of the Althen test for off-Table claims. Specifically, the court found that Mr.
Koehl's expert, Dr. Alan N.
Moshell, did not provide a sound and reliable medical theory connecting the Hep B vaccine to EBA, and that the medical literature did not support such a link. Furthermore, no treating physician attributed Mr.
Koehl's EBA to the vaccinations. While the court found a proximate temporal relationship between the last vaccination and the onset of EBA (late August or early September 2017), this alone was insufficient to prove causation.
Consequently, the petition was dismissed. Petitioner was represented by Isaiah Kalinowski of Bosson Legal Group, P.C., and Respondent was represented by Tyler King of the U.S.
Department of Justice. The decision was issued by Special Master Nora Beth Dorsey.
Theory of causation
Petitioner Rodney Koehl alleged that his three-dose Hepatitis B vaccination series, administered on December 22, 2016, January 23, 2017, and July 24, 2017, caused his Epidermolysis Bullosa Acquisita (EBA). Petitioner's expert, Dr. Alan N. Moshell, proposed a theory that the Hep B vaccination series caused broad immune activation in individuals predisposed to developing autoantibodies against type VII collagen or other basement membrane zone molecules, thereby inducing EBA. Dr. Moshell conceded that the specific triggers for EBA autoantibodies are medically unknown and that there is no medical literature directly linking Hep B vaccination to EBA. Respondent's expert, Dr. Emanual Maverakis, opined that there is no reliable scientific explanation for vaccine causation of EBA, noting the lack of association between Hep B infection and EBA, and the absence of reports linking vaccines to EBA. The court found Dr. Moshell's theory to be speculative and unsupported by foundational evidence, failing to meet the first Althen prong. The court also noted that no treating physicians attributed Petitioner's EBA to the vaccinations, failing the second Althen prong. While a proximate temporal relationship was found between the last vaccination (July 24, 2017) and the onset of EBA (late August or early September 2017), this alone was insufficient to prove causation. The petition was dismissed. Attorneys involved were Isaiah Kalinowski for Petitioner and Tyler King for Respondent. Special Master Nora Beth Dorsey issued the decision on February 3, 2025.
Source PDFs
USCOURTS-cofc-1_20-vv-00190