Justia Injury Law Opinion Summaries

Plaintiff is a physician, disabled by multiple sclerosis, and had no significant medical issues prior to exhibiting symptoms of MS. She received three Hepatitis B immunizations in 1996-1997 and began to experience symptoms. Although she was under medical care, she was not given a provisional diagnosis until 2003. In 2004, she was awarded Social Security disability benefits. Plaintiff first became aware of an association between MS and the Hep-B vaccine in 2004. The Court of Claims affirmed denial of compensation under the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program established by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, 42 U.S.C. 300aa-1 to -34, as time-barred. The Federal Circuit reverse, holding that the limitations period does not begin running when the claimant first experiences symptoms in cases where the medical community at large does not recognize that the symptom is related to a vaccine and the claimant has not received medical information suggesting a connection.