Roberta Johnson v. HHS - MMR, bilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss / autoimmune inner ear disease (2025)

Roberta Johnson, a 65-year-old adult, received her second dose of the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine on April 19, 2019. Approximately 30 days later, she began experiencing symptoms of bilateral ear fullness, which progressed to sudden onset sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) and autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED), accompanied by dizziness and visual disturbances.

Petitioner presented medical records documenting her extensive diagnostic workup and treatment by various specialists, including neurotologists, ENTs, neurologists, and rheumatologists, who ultimately diagnosed her with AIED. Petitioner's expert, Dr.

Edwin M. Monsell, opined that the MMR vaccine was a substantial causal factor in the development of her AIED, proposing a theory of molecular mimicry.

Respondent's experts, Dr. Herman F.

Staats and Dr. Yu-Lan Mary Ying, argued that the medical literature did not support a causal link between the MMR vaccine and AIED, and that Petitioner's condition was likely idiopathic.

The court found that Petitioner provided preponderant evidence satisfying the three prongs of the Althen test for off-Table claims: a sound medical theory connecting the vaccine to the injury (AIED through molecular mimicry), a logical sequence of cause and effect supported by her treating physicians' notes and the lack of alternative causes, and a medically acceptable temporal relationship between vaccination and symptom onset. Consequently, the court ruled that Petitioner is entitled to compensation, with a separate order to follow for damages.