Heather Marshall v. HHS - Influenza, brachial neuritis (2024)

Heather Marshall filed a claim on June 7, 2021, seeking compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, alleging that an influenza vaccine administered on October 7, 2019, caused her to develop brachial neuritis. Ms.

Marshall was 46 years old at the time of vaccination. She reported experiencing symptoms approximately one month after vaccination, including loss of feeling in her face, extreme pain in her neck, back, shoulder, and right arm, and numbness.

Her treating neurologist, Dr. Lee P.

Dresser, initially considered the possibility of mild brachial plexitis related to the vaccine and prescribed a Medrol dose pack, which was unhelpful. Subsequent evaluations, including EMG studies, did not conclusively support a diagnosis of brachial neuritis.

Instead, these tests were more consistent with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), a condition Ms. Marshall had a history of.

Petitioner's expert, Dr. John D.

Hixson, opined that Ms. Marshall experienced acute right brachial plexus neuritis due to the vaccine, citing her symptoms, their temporal relationship to the vaccination, and neurological findings.

Respondent's experts, Dr. Pria Anand and Dr.

Jonathan Miner, opined that the medical records did not support a brachial neuritis diagnosis. Dr.

Anand concluded that Ms. Marshall's symptoms were better explained by pre-existing conditions like CTS and degenerative arthritis with cervical radiculopathy, noting the lack of objective findings such as weakness, atrophy, or scapular winging, and the absence of denervation on EMG studies.

Dr. Miner also pointed to Ms.

Marshall's history of degenerative arthritis and cervical radiculopathy as more likely explanations for her symptoms, stating there was no literature supporting a vaccine-caused degenerative arthritis. Chief Special Master Brian H.

Corcoran found that Ms. Marshall failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that she suffered from brachial neuritis and that it was caused by the flu vaccine.

The Special Master noted inconsistencies in the reported onset of symptoms, with some evidence suggesting onset within a month and other reports indicating onset within a day or on the day of vaccination, which he found too acute for an immune-mediated process. The Special Master also found that the objective medical evidence, including EMG studies, did not confirm brachial neuritis and was more consistent with CTS and degenerative arthritis.

Therefore, Ms. Marshall was denied compensation.