Joseph Hegedus v. HHS - Influenza, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP) (2024)
Case summary [AI summaries can sometimes make mistakes]
Joseph Hegedus filed a petition on May 11, 2022, alleging that the influenza vaccine he received on August 25, 2020, caused him to develop Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP). The respondent, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, denied that the flu vaccine caused Mr.
Hegedus's injury or any other condition. Despite this denial, the parties filed a joint stipulation on September 24, 2024, agreeing to award compensation to Mr.
Hegedus. Special Master Herbrina Sanders found the stipulation to be reasonable and adopted it as the decision of the court.
Mr. Hegedus was awarded a lump sum of $110,000.00, payable by check to Petitioner, as compensation for all damages.
The case was resolved via stipulation, with the respondent denying causation but agreeing to the award. Petitioner's counsel was Leah VaSahnja Durant, and respondent's counsel was Katherine Carr Esposito.
The public decision does not describe the onset, symptoms, medical tests, treatments, or expert witnesses.
Theory of causation
Petitioner Joseph Hegedus alleged that the influenza vaccine administered on August 25, 2020, caused him to develop Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP). The respondent denied that the vaccine caused the alleged injury or any other condition. The parties reached a stipulation for compensation, with the respondent denying causation. The case was resolved by joint stipulation on September 24, 2024, with Special Master Herbrina Sanders adopting the stipulation as the court's decision. Petitioner was awarded a lump sum of $110,000.00. The theory of causation was not explicitly stated as being on or off the Vaccine Injury Table in the provided text, but the respondent's denial of causation suggests it was not a per se Table case. No specific medical experts or mechanisms of injury were detailed in the public decision. Petitioner was represented by Leah VaSahnja Durant, and respondent was represented by Katherine Carr Esposito.
Source PDFs
USCOURTS-cofc-1_22-vv-00522