{"package_id":"USCOURTS-cofc-1_22-vv-01350","decision_granule_id":"USCOURTS-cofc-1_22-vv-01350-0","petitioner_identifier":"David Hunter","is_minor":0,"age_at_vaccination":59.0,"age_unit_raw":"years","vaccine_type":"influenza","vaccination_date":"2019-09-24","condition_raw":"right-sided sudden sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus","condition_category":"neurological","autism_spectrum_adjacent":0,"outcome":"dismissed","award_amount_usd":null,"decision_date":"2025-09-17","extraction_version":"manual-supplement-redo-2026-05-normal38","extracted_at":"2026-05-04 21:06:08","number_of_concurrent_vaccines":1,"dose_number":null,"time_to_onset_days":7,"theory_of_causation":"Influenza vaccine, September 24, 2019, age 59, alleged right-sided sudden sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus with onset described in records about one week after vaccination. DISMISSED. Theory was an off-Table vaccine-caused SSNHL claim, but petitioner filed no expert report and no reliable medical theory connecting influenza vaccine to his hearing loss; a COVID-vaccine hearing-loss article was not relevant because COVID vaccines are not covered by the VICP and did not establish causation for this claim. Key evidence: October 2019 ENT visits, prednisone, MRI without acute explanation, ear steroid injections, partial hearing improvement, and later records largely silent for ongoing vaccine-related hearing impairment. Chief Special Master Corcoran found Althen prong one not met and dismissed. Attorney Howard Gold.","is_death":0,"date_of_death":null,"petition_filed_date":"2022-09-22","case_summary":"On September 22, 2022, David Hunter filed a petition alleging that an influenza vaccination he received from his primary care provider on September 24, 2019, caused right-sided sudden sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus. He was 59 years old at vaccination.\n\nThe medical records placed the first hearing complaints in early October 2019. Around October 1, Mr. Hunter saw an ear, nose, and throat physician with right-sided hearing loss that had begun several days earlier. He also had a history of a minor head injury in the weeks before vaccination. The ENT diagnosed right subjective tinnitus and unilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss, prescribed prednisone, and later obtained an MRI that did not show an acute intracranial cause. Mr. Hunter reported dizziness and persistent hearing difficulty, and he received several right ear steroid injections in November 2019. By late November, he reported some return of hearing, though tinnitus remained.\n\nThe case did not proceed on the Vaccine Injury Table because sudden sensorineural hearing loss is not a Table injury for influenza vaccine. Chief Special Master Corcoran ordered Mr. Hunter to show cause why the case should not be dismissed, noting that similar SSNHL vaccine claims had generally failed without persuasive expert proof. Mr. Hunter referenced a COVID-vaccine hearing-loss article and asked for more time to obtain expert support, but he did not file an expert report or literature establishing a reliable medical theory for flu vaccine causation.\n\nOn September 17, 2025, the Chief Special Master dismissed the petition. He found that the record did not satisfy Althen's first prong because no reliable medical theory connected the influenza vaccine to Mr. Hunter's hearing loss. The dismissal left no injury compensation award. Mr. Hunter was represented by Howard Gold.","is_minor_inferred":0,"is_pediatric_broad":0,"special_master":"Brian H. Corcoran","petitioner_identifier_original":null,"caption_petitioner_name":"David Hunter","petitioner_attorney_name":"Howard Gold","petitioner_attorney_firm":"Gold Law Firm, LLC","petitioner_attorney_location":"Wellesley, MA","adjudicator_name":null,"caption_people_backfilled_at":"2026-05-05 23:43:25","attorney_canonical_keys":"|howard-gold|","firm_canonical_key":"gold-law-firm","package_title":"HUNTER v. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES","canonical_url":"https://vicp-registry.org/case/USCOURTS-cofc-1_22-vv-01350","plain_text_url":"https://vicp-registry.org/case/USCOURTS-cofc-1_22-vv-01350.txt","json_url":"https://vicp-registry.org/case/USCOURTS-cofc-1_22-vv-01350.json","source_documents":[{"granule_id":"USCOURTS-cofc-1_22-vv-01350-0","title":"HUNTER v. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES","docket_text":"PUBLIC DECISION (Originally filed: 09/17/2025) regarding 30 DECISION of Special Master. Signed by Chief Special Master Brian H. Corcoran. (mva) Service on parties made.","date_issued":"2025-10-20","pdf_url":"https://api.govinfo.gov/packages/USCOURTS-cofc-1_22-vv-01350/granules/USCOURTS-cofc-1_22-vv-01350-0/pdf","pdf_bytes":343036,"triage_decision":"keep","triage_reason":"docketText matches keep keyword 'decision of special master'","download_status":"ok","registry_pdf_url":"https://vicp-registry.org/pdf/USCOURTS-cofc-1_22-vv-01350/USCOURTS-cofc-1_22-vv-01350-0"}]}