Jennifer Lawson v. HHS - DPT, progressive central nervous system demyelinating disease (1999)

Jennifer Lawson, born October 23, 1976, received her third Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus (DPT) vaccination on May 24, 1977. Petitioners allege that within hours of the vaccination, Jennifer began sleeping excessively, became difficult to arouse, and showed a general lack of response.

Within two to three weeks, she began slumping over. On or about June 11, 1977, she fell and subsequently lost her ability to hold her head upright, roll over, and grasp objects.

She was hospitalized from July 11, 1977, for four days and diagnosed with a progressive central nervous system demyelinating disease. A CT scan on July 18, 1977, showed mildly enlarged lateral ventricles and areas of diminished density in the white matter of the frontal and anterior parietal lobes; Jennifer did not have seizure activity.

Jennifer's condition did not improve; she lost all motor skills and became mentally retarded. She was unable to ambulate independently and was confined to a wheelchair or bedridden until her death.

On May 25, 1991, following surgery for scoliosis, a tracheotomy was performed to assist her breathing. Jennifer died on April 25, 1992, from exsanguination due to the rupture of a large blood vessel caused by an old tracheostomy.

Petitioners filed their initial petition on October 1, 1990, alleging a Table injury from the DPT vaccine. They later supplemented the petition to allege that her death was a sequela of the vaccine injury.

The special master denied compensation, finding that the immediate cause of death (hemorrhaging from the tracheostomy) was not an acute complication or sequela for purposes of the Vaccine Act. The court vacated the special master's decision, remanding for findings on whether Jennifer suffered an initial vaccine-related injury (Table or actual causation) and, if so, whether her death was vaccine-related.

The court noted that compensation for an initial vaccine injury under 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-15(b) could be awarded even if death was not vaccine-related, and that additional compensation under 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-15(a)(2) could be awarded if death was vaccine-related. The case was remanded for further proceedings, with a 90-day limit for the remand.

The public decision does not name petitioner counsel, respondent counsel, or specific medical experts, nor does it detail the mechanism of injury or specific diagnostic tests beyond the CT scan. The outcome of the remand proceedings is not described in the provided text.