Vaccine Injury Compensation Program: Elizabeth Cimino's GBS Claim Dismissed

Elizabeth Cimino, a petitioner in the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, had her Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) claim dismissed by the United States Court of Federal Claims. Cimino alleged that she suffered from GBS due to an influenza vaccine administered on October 29, 2021. However, after a thorough review of the medical records and evidence, Chief Special Master Corcoran found that Cimino failed to demonstrate that she suffered from GBS. As a result, her GBS claim was dismissed, but her case will proceed as a causation-in-fact claim alleging that the flu vaccine caused her to suffer from a demyelinating disease and neuropathy.

Key Takeaways:

• Elizabeth Cimino, a petitioner in the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, had her GBS claim dismissed by the United States Court of Federal Claims.
• Cimino alleged that she suffered from GBS due to an influenza vaccine administered on October 29, 2021, but failed to demonstrate that she suffered from the injury.
• The medical records and evidence showed that Cimino was never diagnosed with GBS by any of her treatment providers.
• The primary indication of GBS in the medical record came from Dr. Shatla, who stated that Cimino had "recovered from acute onset of demyelination polyneuropathy after a flu shot" but this was based on a presumption of a previous GBS diagnosis, which was not the case.
• Cimino's diagnostic testing failed to indicate a GBS diagnosis, and her most recent assessment came from Dr. Cherukuri, who diagnosed her with subacute weakness and paresthesia in her legs of unclear etiology.
• The court dismissed Cimino's GBS claim and will proceed with transferring her case out of the SPUs to randomly reassign it to a special master to conduct further proceedings to establish whether Cimino has demonstrated an off-Table case for demyelinating disease and neuropathy.
• The court found that Petitioner has failed to demonstrate that she suffered the injury of GBS, and hereby dismiss Petitioner's GBS claim.

Statistics:

• 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-10, et seq. (the "Vaccine Act") governs the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
• 76 Fed. Cl. 452, 454 (Fed. Cl. 2007) - the case of Devonshire v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs.
• The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program receives and reviews over 4,000 petitions each year. (Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
• The program has paid out over $5 billion in compensation to petitioners since its inception. (Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
• As of 2022, the program has received over 24,000 petitions. (Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)

Sources:

• United States Court of Federal Claims
• 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-10, et seq.
• Devonshire v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs, 76 Fed. Cl. 452, 454 (Fed. Cl. 2007)
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services