Rachael Lampe v. HHS - DPT, encephalopathy, residual seizure disorder, mental retardation (1998)

Michael and Carolyn Lampe filed a petition on behalf of their daughter, Rachael Lampe, on December 14, 1990, seeking compensation for injuries allegedly sustained from her diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT) vaccinations. Rachael received DPT vaccinations on November 10, 1975, December 18, 1975, and January 19, 1976.

The petitioners alleged that Rachael suffered an "on-Table" encephalopathy, or alternatively, that the vaccinations caused a residual seizure disorder and subsequent mental retardation. They further contended that the January 19, 1976 vaccination significantly aggravated a condition that had manifested after earlier DPT shots.

The respondent is the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The public decision does not name counsel for either party.

The core of the dispute centered on the timing of Rachael's symptoms and the interpretation of medical records. On January 26, 1976, Rachael experienced a grand mal seizure lasting approximately twenty to twenty-five minutes.

However, a hospital record from the day after her admission noted that her mother had reported Rachael had been experiencing intermittent, brief episodes of rhythmic jerking of her right foot for about a month prior to the seizure. These "bicycle pedaling" movements became a critical factor in the case.

The Chief Special Master initially determined that the petitioners had not established an "on-Table" encephalopathy because the evidence did not show that the first symptom or manifestation occurred within the timeframe required by the Vaccine Injury Table following a DPT vaccination. The case then proceeded as a dispute over actual causation and significant aggravation.

Following hearings and expert testimony, the Chief Special Master concluded that the rhythmic jerking movements observed between the second and third vaccinations represented the onset of a pre-existing seizure disorder. The Special Master found that the petitioners had not proven that the second vaccination caused this condition in fact, nor that the third vaccination caused a significant aggravation of the pre-existing condition within a medically or legally acceptable timeframe.

On review, Judge Horn affirmed the Chief Special Master's decision. The court found that the Special Master had properly relied on contemporaneous medical records over later testimony, had permissibly credited the respondent's expert analysis, and had correctly applied the "significant aggravation" framework outlined in Whitecotton v.

Secretary of Health & Human Services. The court noted that while Rachael's seizures and developmental problems later became severe, the record did not demonstrate a substantial deterioration of health in temporal proximity to the January 19, 1976 vaccination.

Instead, the more significant worsening of her condition appeared years later. Consequently, the petition for compensation was denied.

The decision was issued on December 17, 1998.