VICP Registry Case Source Bundle
Canonical URL: https://vicp-registry.org/case/USCOURTS-cofc-1_20-vv-00666
Package ID: USCOURTS-cofc-1_20-vv-00666
Petitioner: Valerie Murphy
Filed: 2020-06-01
Decided: 2022-05-26
Vaccine: influenza
Vaccination date: 2017-12-04
Condition: peripheral neuropathy in her legs
Outcome: entitlement_granted_pending_damages
Award amount USD: 

AI-assisted case summary:
Valerie Murphy received an influenza vaccination on December 4, 2017. She claims this vaccination caused peripheral neuropathy in her legs. The parties disputed the onset date of her symptoms. A fact hearing was held to determine this issue. Ms. Murphy testified credibly that she began experiencing sporadic muscle twitching in her legs around December 10, 2017, approximately six days after her vaccination. Medical records from January 29, 2018, were consistent with her testimony. The Special Master found that preponderant evidence showed her muscle twitching began around December 10, 2017. This ruling determined the onset date but did not resolve all issues, as Ms. Murphy still bears the burden of establishing vaccine causation. Expert reports are likely to be necessary to support causation, and the parties may explore settlement. The case was set to proceed with a status report on next steps.

Theory of causation field:
unclear

Public staged source text:

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DOCUMENT 1: USCOURTS-cofc-1_20-vv-00666-0
Date issued/filed: 2022-05-26
Pages: 3
Docket text: PUBLIC DECISION (Originally filed: 5/4/2022) regarding 65 DECISION of Special Master. Signed by Special Master Christian J. Moran. (amb) Service on parties made.
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Case 1:20-vv-00666-UNJ Document 69 Filed 05/26/22 Page 1 of 3
In the United States Court of Federal Claims
OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
VALERIE MURPHY, *
* No. 20-666V
Petitioner, * Special Master Christian J.
* Moran
v. *
* Filed: May 4, 2022
SECRETARY OF HEALTH *
AND HUMAN SERVICES, * Ruling finding fact; onset.
*
Respondent. *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
FINDING OF FACT1
Valerie Murphy claims that an influenza (“flu”) vaccination she received on
December 4, 2017, caused her to suffer from peripheral neuropathy in her legs.
Pet., filed June 1, 2020, at 1. However, the parties dispute when she began to
experience problems in her legs. A fact hearing was held on May 3, 2020, to
determine the issue of onset. Preponderant evidence shows that Ms. Murphy
began experiencing muscle twitching in her legs around December 10, 2017.
Standards for Adjudication
Petitioners are required to establish their cases by a preponderance of the
evidence. 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-13(1)(a). The preponderance of the evidence
standard requires a “trier of fact to believe that the existence of a fact is more
probable than its nonexistence before [he] may find in favor of the party who has
the burden to persuade the judge of the fact’s existence.” Moberly v. Sec’y of
1 The E-Government Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-347, 116 Stat. 2899,
2913 (Dec. 17, 2002), requires that the Court post this ruling on its website.
Anyone will be able to access this ruling via the internet
(https://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/aggregator/sources/7). Pursuant to Vaccine Rule
18(b), the parties have 14 days to file a motion proposing redaction of medical
information or other information described in 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-12(d)(4). Any
redactions ordered by the special master will appear in the document posted on the
website.

Case 1:20-vv-00666-UNJ Document 69 Filed 05/26/22 Page 2 of 3
Health & Hum. Servs., 592 F.3d 1315, 1322 n.2 (Fed. Cir. 2010) (citations
omitted).
The process for finding facts in the Vaccine Program begins with analyzing
the medical records, which are required to be filed with the petition. 42 U.S.C.
§ 300aa-11(c)(2). Medical records that are created contemporaneously with the
events they describe are presumed to be accurate. Cucuras v. Sec’y of Health &
Hum. Servs., 993 F.2d 1525, 1528 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
The Vaccine Act authorizes a special master to find that “the first
symptom . . . of an injury . . . described in a petition occurred within the time
period described in the Vaccine Injury Table even though the occurrence of such
symptom… was not recorded or was incorrectly recorded as having occurred
outside such period.”
Analysis
Ms. Murphy received a flu vaccination on December 4, 2017. The parties
do not dispute the date of vaccination.
Ms. Murphy asserted that she had painful sensations by Christmas 2017.
See exhibit 7 (petitioner’s affidavit) ¶ 3. However, Dr. Barbara Morlan reported
normal functions in Ms. Murphy’s nerves after an examination on January 29,
2018. Exhibit 2 at 23-25. Ms. Murphy has challenged the accuracy of some of Dr.
Morlan’s medical records. Exhibit 15.
At the hearing, Ms. Murphy was a credible witness. Ms. Murphy testified
that her muscle twitching began after her December 4, 2017 flu vaccination. She
further testified that the muscle twitching was sporadic, happened more often at
night, occurred three to four times a day, and lasted for less than a minute.
Ms. Murphy’s medical records are consistent with her testimony that her
muscle twitching began after vaccination. Dr. Morlan’s record from January 29,
2018, created six weeks after Mr. Murphy claims her muscle twitching began,
shows that Ms. Murphy was experiencing muscle twitching at that time. Exhibit
16 at 61. This record, created long before litigation, is credible. No medical
records undermine the assertion that Ms. Murphy was experiencing muscle
twitching at this time. Additionally, Ms. Murphy’s testimony that her muscle
twitching was sporadic helps explain why Dr. Birnbaum or Dr. Cantrell may not
have detected the problem.
2

Case 1:20-vv-00666-UNJ Document 69 Filed 05/26/22 Page 3 of 3
A competent petitioner’s testimony regarding the onset of her symptoms is
credible evidence. See James-Cornelius v. Sec’y of Health & Hum. Servs., 984
F.3d 1374, 1380 (Fed. Cir. 2021). Therefore, the evidence preponderates in favor
of crediting Ms. Murphy’s testimony regarding the onset of her symptoms.
Accordingly, the undersigned finds Ms. Murphy’s muscle twitching began
around December 10, 2017. However, this finding does not resolve all issues. Ms.
Murphy still has the burden to establish that the flu vaccination was the cause-in-
fact of her peripheral neuropathy. Expert reports will likely be necessary to
support vaccine-causation. The parties may also wish to explore settlement.
Conclusion
Preponderant evidence shows that Ms. Murphy’s muscle twitching began on
December 10, 2017. Ms. Murphy shall file a status report proposing potential next
steps in the case by Friday, June 3, 2022.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
s/ Christian J. Moran
Christian J. Moran
Special Master
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