Kaleigh Watts v. HHS - Influenza, Guillain-Barré Syndrome (2024)

On November 29, 2021, Kaleigh Watts filed a petition alleging that she suffered Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) as a result of an influenza vaccine received on January 21, 2019. The petition stated the injury was a Table injury or, in the alternative, an off-Table injury.

The respondent, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, denied that Petitioner sustained a GBS Table injury, denied that the flu vaccine caused her injury, and denied that her current condition was a sequela of a vaccine-related injury. Despite these denials, the parties filed a stipulation on August 27, 2024, recommending an award of compensation.

The stipulation stated that Petitioner would receive a lump sum of $125,000.00, payable to Petitioner, representing compensation for all damages available under 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-15(a). Special Master Nora Beth Dorsey found the stipulation reasonable and adopted it as the decision of the Court, awarding the compensation as agreed.

Judgment was to be entered in accordance with the stipulation, unless a motion for review was filed. The public decision does not describe the specific onset of symptoms, clinical details of the injury, diagnostic tests, treatments, or the mechanism of causation.

Petitioner was represented by Laura Levenberg of Muller Brazil PA, and Respondent was represented by Zoe Wade of the U.S. Department of Justice.