{"package_id":"USCOURTS-cofc-1_23-vv-01051","decision_granule_id":"USCOURTS-cofc-1_23-vv-01051-1","petitioner_identifier":"Sonia Borgelt","is_minor":0,"age_at_vaccination":42.0,"age_unit_raw":"years","vaccine_type":"influenza","vaccination_date":"2020-09-10","condition_raw":"chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (anti-neurofascin CIDP)","condition_category":"neurologic","autism_spectrum_adjacent":0,"outcome":"denied","award_amount_usd":null,"decision_date":"2026-01-05","extraction_version":"manual-supplement-redo-2026-05-normal25","extracted_at":"2026-05-04 17:12:55","number_of_concurrent_vaccines":1,"dose_number":null,"time_to_onset_days":0,"theory_of_causation":"Adult petitioner, age 42; influenza vaccine September 10, 2020; significant aggravation of preexisting anti-neurofascin 155 antibody-positive CIDP. DENIED. Petitioner expert Dr. Zurab Nadareishvili argued flu-vaccine immune stimulation could worsen existing anti-neurofascin CIDP despite conceding the disease began before vaccination; respondent expert Dr. Marcello Matiello characterized the condition as an IgG4 antibody-mediated nodopathy less driven by inflammation, found same-day/near-same-day worsening immunologically implausible, and attributed course to CIDP relapse/treatment issues. First three Loving prongs met; Loving prongs four-six/Althen analogs failed. Petition filed July 10, 2023; entitlement decision January 5, 2026. No award.","is_death":0,"date_of_death":null,"petition_filed_date":"2023-07-10","case_summary":"On July 10, 2023, Sonia Borgelt filed a petition alleging that an influenza vaccination administered at a Walmart in West Linn, Oregon, on September 10, 2020 significantly aggravated chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. She was 42 years old at vaccination. The case was litigated through an entitlement hearing before Chief Special Master Brian H. Corcoran.\n\nThe medical history mattered because Ms. Borgelt had neurologic symptoms before the flu shot. In August 2020 she went to emergency care with back pain, numbness, and tingling in her hands and feet. After vaccination, she returned to the emergency room on September 13, 2020 reporting increasing weakness, especially in her lower extremities, difficulty walking, and numbness and tingling. Early treaters considered Guillain-Barre syndrome, and she began IVIG on September 14. Later records described progressive numbness, weakness, falls, repeat admissions, additional IVIG, use of a wheelchair, and eventual testing and treatment consistent with anti-neurofascin 155 antibody-positive CIDP.\n\nPetitioner's neurologist, Dr. Zurab Nadareishvili, accepted that the CIDP likely began before vaccination, but argued that the flu vaccine could have worsened the disease through immune stimulation affecting anti-neurofascin antibody activity. Respondent's expert, Dr. Marcello Matiello, a neuroimmunology clinician, agreed that Ms. Borgelt had anti-neurofascin CIDP but emphasized that this variant is better understood as a nodopathy involving structural injury at nerve nodes, not a vaccine-triggered inflammatory process like classic GBS. He also found the same-day or near-same-day worsening too rapid for the proposed immune mechanism.\n\nChief Special Master Corcoran found the first three Loving significant-aggravation prongs satisfied: Ms. Borgelt had preexisting anti-neurofascin CIDP, she worsened afterward, and her post-vaccination health was worse than before. The claim failed on the prongs corresponding to Althen. The decision found no reliable showing that flu vaccination could worsen anti-neurofascin CIDP, no persuasive proof that this flu shot likely worsened her disease course, and no medically acceptable temporal relationship. Entitlement was denied on January 5, 2026, and no injury compensation was awarded.","is_minor_inferred":0,"is_pediatric_broad":0,"special_master":"Brian H. Corcoran","petitioner_identifier_original":null,"caption_petitioner_name":"Sonia Borgelt","petitioner_attorney_name":"Isaiah Kalinowski","petitioner_attorney_firm":"Bosson Legal Group","petitioner_attorney_location":"Fairfax, VA","adjudicator_name":null,"caption_people_backfilled_at":"2026-05-05 23:43:17","attorney_canonical_keys":"|isaiah-kalinowski|","firm_canonical_key":"bosson-legal-group","package_title":"BORGELT v. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES","canonical_url":"https://vicp-registry.org/case/USCOURTS-cofc-1_23-vv-01051","plain_text_url":"https://vicp-registry.org/case/USCOURTS-cofc-1_23-vv-01051.txt","json_url":"https://vicp-registry.org/case/USCOURTS-cofc-1_23-vv-01051.json","source_documents":[{"granule_id":"USCOURTS-cofc-1_23-vv-01051-0","title":"BORGELT v. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES","docket_text":"PUBLIC DECISION (Originally filed: 07/09/2025) regarding 34 DECISION of Special Master - Interim Attorney's Fees. Signed by Chief Special Master Brian H. Corcoran. (cr) Service on parties made.","date_issued":"2025-08-11","pdf_url":null,"pdf_bytes":null,"triage_decision":"skip","triage_reason":"fees-only decision (attorney compensation)","download_status":"skipped"},{"granule_id":"USCOURTS-cofc-1_23-vv-01051-1","title":"BORGELT v. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES","docket_text":"PUBLIC DECISION (Originally filed: 01/05/2026) regarding 38 DECISION of Special Master. Signed by Chief Special Master Brian H. Corcoran. (ers) Service on parties made.","date_issued":"2026-02-02","pdf_url":"https://api.govinfo.gov/packages/USCOURTS-cofc-1_23-vv-01051/granules/USCOURTS-cofc-1_23-vv-01051-1/pdf","pdf_bytes":435518,"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_23-vv-01051/USCOURTS-cofc-1_23-vv-01051-1"}]}