Whitfield v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs.
| Decision Date | 17 May 2021 |
| Docket Number | No. 19-559V,19-559V |
| Parties | MIKAYLA WHITFIELD, Petitioner, v. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. Claims Court |
Mikayla Whitfield, pro se, Atlanta, GA.
Sarah C. Duncan, Trial Attorney, Torts Branch, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for respondent. With her was Linda S. Renzi, Senior Trial Counsel, Torts Branch Civil Division, Catharine E. Reeves, Deputy Director, Torts Branch, Civil Division, C. Salvatore D'Alessio, Acting Director, Torts Branch, Civil Division, and Brian Boynton, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division.
On April 15, 2019, petitioner filed her original petition in this court, requesting compensation through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-1 to 300aa-34 (2018) (Vaccine Act), "for injurys including multiple skin problems including reoccurring skin Abscess and a rare skin cancer cell, sever persistent headache, and unidentifiedFallopian Tube reoccurring mass/tumors,"2 which injuries petitioner alleged were the result of a meningococcal vaccine she received on April 29, 2016. Petitioner subsequently filed an amended petition in which she rephrased her injuries as including "severe headaches that keep reocurring, multiple skin problems including skin Abscesses, and skin lesions, and unrecognized, unknown, and unidentified fallopian tube inflammation, that I believe with certain is caused by a likely recalled vaccine I received on March 16, 2017," and that "the vaccine I received April 29, 2016 caused my headaches and skin problems." As discussed below, petitioner submitted various medical records spanning from 2016 to 2019, as well as some in 2013 which pre-date her meningococcal vaccinations, to document medical visits in which she complained of ailments including headaches, blurred vision, low energy, sleeping trouble, eating issues, abdominal pain, and various skin irritations such as rash outbreaks and lesions over several parts of her body. The medical records submitted by petitioner also consisted of medical diagnoses and findings including ovarian cysts leading to the removal of petitioner's left fallopian tube, high cholesterol, vitamin D deficiency, chlamydia, eczema, and tinea versicolor.
On February 12, 2021 Special Master Moran issued a decision denying petitioner's claims, stating that petitioner "has not presented persuasive evidence to establish that the meningococcal vaccine was the cause-in-fact of any of her conditions contained in the medical records." Whitfield v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs., No. 19-559V, 2021 WL 915908, at *3 ( . Special Master Moran also determined that petitioner's attempts at filing expert reports in this case, which consisted of two photographs of short letters received by petitioner from two doctors she had seen regarding her ailments in the case, "did not meaningfully advance petitioner's case primarily because they did not provide evidence to support that the meningococcal vaccine caused Ms. Whitfield's alleged injuries." Id. at *2. On March 11, 2021, petitioner filed a motion for review, which was assigned to the undersigned.
Petitioner's immunization records before the court indicated that petitioner first received two meningococcal vaccines on April 29, 2016, at age fifteen, and that the two meningococcal vaccines were administered that date were: (1) "MEN-ACYW (MENVEO) (meningococcal oligosaccharide ACYW-135)," and (2) "MENcn-ACYW (MENACTRA) (Meningococcal conjugate groups ACYW-135)." (capitalization in original). Petitioner also received another MENVEO meningococcal vaccine again on March 16, 2017, at age sixteen. Petitioner stated that prior to the administration of the vaccines on April 29, 2016, she "was of high energy in good health actively playing sports at Benjamin E. Mays High School" in Atlanta, GA, and "was not suffing from any medical condition." As discussed below, petitioner's medical records were not all submitted by petitioner at the time she filed her original petition. A number of the medical records were submitted by petitioner following Orders by Special Master Moran for respondent to report on "the sufficiency ofthe medical records in this case," and for petitioner to supplement the record before the court with medical records identified missing by respondent. As part of one of petitioner's supplemental filings before the court, the medical records included a November 17, 2013 visit to the Atlanta Medical Center South Campus Emergency Department, more than two years prior to the first two meningococcal vaccines administered to petitioner, in which petitioner, at age thirteen, complained of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain "of the suprapubic area and left lower quadrant" which "radiat[ed] to [the] pelvis." In affidavits submitted to the court, petitioner "attest[ed] to having pre-dated Eczema which was referred to as Atopic Dermatitis," and that she "only had mild eczema that mainly showed up in the creases of my arms and wrists." Petitioner also attested that, prior to the meningococcal vaccines, she had asthma, and "experienced Headaches in my past, such as from hormonal changes, tension headaches, and stress related headaches caused by family life, grades and school."
On April 29, 2016, the day petitioner received her first two meningococcal vaccines, petitioner saw Dr. Loreen C. Doyle-Littles, petitioner's primary care physician at the time, at Kaiser Permanente (Kaiser) in Atlanta, GA, for a "well adolescent visit," and also for a refill of eczema medication. Dr. Doyle-Littles noted that petitioner had "hypopigmented plaques on chest c/w [consistent with] tinea versicolor," and "acanthosis nigricans on back of neck." In addition to receiving the two meningococcal vaccines on April 29, 2016, petitioner received prescriptions for tinea versicolor, acanthosis nigricans, atopic dermatitis, and allergic rhinitis. In a depression questionnaire completed during the April 29, 2016 visit, it was indicated that petitioner experienced "[t]robule falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much," "[p]oor appetite, weight loss, or overeating," and "[f]eeling tired, or having little energy," several days per week. Dr. Doyle-Littles also noted that petitioner, who had a height of 5'5'', weighed 234 pounds, and had a body mass index in the 99th percentile at 39.02kg/m².
Petitioner's January 10, 2020 affidavit submitted with her amended petition stated that after receiving the first set of meningococcal vaccines on April 29, 2016, she "first started noticing" she was "developing headaches," and "[a]s time went on i noticed that my headaches were getting stronger and were lasting longer. sometimes lasting as long as 2 to 3 days at a time." She attested that she then "started noticing my skin was becoming very itchy and I couldn't stop itching all over my body, along with my headaches that was getting worse," and "[a]s time went on i started also noticing dark itchy patches of skin appearing on my chest in between my breasts, on my stomach and back, that was not there before."
On July 18, 2016, almost three months after the first two meningococcal vaccinations were administered on April 29, 2016, petitioner visited Kaiser complaining of eye swelling. A "Vision Screen" indicated 20/40 vision in petitioner's left eye, right eye, and both eyes. She was diagnosed with blurred vision.
Petitioner's original petition stated that on February 28, 2017, ten months after petitioner's first two meningococcal vaccinations, petitioner "visited my doctors office due to a burning and itching feeling from a Rash on my elbows, abdomen, and lower back."The original petition further stated that she The Progress Notes in the record before the court for petitioner's February 28, 2017 visit, written by Dr. Suleka Neelagaru, stated:
Dr. Neelagaru also described these symptoms as "eczematous changes to antecubital fossae, abdomen, and lower back; hypo and hyperpigmented macules to upper chest and upper back; erythematous maculopapular rash between breasts." Under "[p]ertinent negatives," Dr. Neelagaru noted that petitioner had exhibited "no fever, sore throat, cough or abdominal pain." Under "Patient Active Problem List," the diagnoses of atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis and "BMI [Body-Mass Index] PEDS >= 95 PERCENTILE," were noted. (capitalization in original). It was also noted that a "[r]eview of patient's allergies indicates no known allergies," and that petitioner reported no history of smoking, or using smokeless tobacco, alcohol, or illicit drugs. Petitioner was diagnosed with atopic dermatitis, tinea versicolor, candida of skin, allergic rhinitis, dysmenorrhea, and irregular menstrual cycle.
On March 16, 2017, petitioner returned to Kaiser and saw her primary care physician, Dr. Doyle-Littles. Dr. Doyle-Littles diagnosed petitioner with acne, tinea versicolor on petitioner's abdomen, and "a large firm red tender abscess in pilonidal area," for which she referred petitioner to the...
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