Carter v. Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services

21 Cl. Ct. 651, 1990 U.S. Claims LEXIS 413, 1990 WL 166831
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedOctober 17, 1990
DocketNo. 89-80V
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 21 Cl. Ct. 651 (Carter v. Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carter v. Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services, 21 Cl. Ct. 651, 1990 U.S. Claims LEXIS 413, 1990 WL 166831 (cc 1990).

Opinion

OPINION

MARGOLIS, Judge.

This vaccine case comes before the court on a motion to review filed by the petitioner, Susan Carter, on July 26, 1990, pursuant to Appendix J, RUSCC. Susan Carter brought an action to recover compensation under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, as amended at 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 300aa-l to -34 (West Supp.1990) (the Act), for a condition — juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) — that she alleges resulted from a rubella vaccination that she received as a child. Special Master Paul Baird held an evidentiary hearing in Salt Lake City, Utah on April 10 and 11, 1990. The parties submitted post-hearing briefs to the Special Master on the applicability of Hasler v. United States, 718 F.2d 202 (6th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 817, 105 S.Ct. 84, 83 L.Ed.2d 31 (1984), to the facts of this case. On June 27, 1990, the Special Master rendered a decision denying compensation to Susan Carter on the ground that she failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence in the record that the vaccine inoculation was the cause of Carter’s JRA. Carter v. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, No. 89-80V, slip op. at 11 (Cl.Ct. June 27, 1990) (decision of Special Master).

In her motion for review, Carter contends that the Special Master’s decision denying compensation was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and otherwise not in accordance with law. Carter objects to the Special Master’s decision on three grounds:

1. The Special Master’s conclusion that a temporal association cannot support a finding of cause and effect unless all other possible causes have been eliminated is not in accordance with law.
2. The Special Master’s failure to consider evidence that the appropriate temporal association between rubella vaccination and the onset of arthritis establishes a causal relationship was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.
3. The Special Master’s conclusion that petitioner had not adequately excluded other possible causes of her rheumatoid arthritis was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.

[653]*653Both petitioner and respondent, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, agree that the common issue raised by these objections is the proof required under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program to show that a vaccination caused the alleged injury.

After a careful review of the Special Master’s decision and the entire record, and after hearing oral argument, this court upholds the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the Special Master and sustains the Special Master’s decision.

DISCUSSION

1. Standard of Review

The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 was amended in 1989 to provide that a Special Master’s decision should not be disturbed upon review unless it is found to be “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” 42 U.S.C.A. § 300aa-12(e)(2)(B). Under the arbitrary and capricious standard, the reviewing court should not substitute its judgment for that of the decision maker. Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe, 401 U.S. 402, 416, 91 S.Ct. 814, 823-24, 28 L.Ed.2d 136 (1971). Consistent with these principles, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has stated that the touchstone for this standard is rationality: if the relevant factors have been considered and no clear error of judgment has been made, the decision should be affirmed. Hyundai Electronics Industries v. United States International Trade Commission, 899 F.2d 1204, 1209 (Fed.Cir.1990). This court reviews the Special Master’s decision accordingly.

2. Statutory Scheme

The Act provides that the petitioner may be awarded compensation “if the special master or court finds on the record as a whole—

(A) that the petitioner has demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence the matters required in the petition by section 300aa-ll(c)(l) of this title, and
(B) that there is not a preponderance of the evidence that the illness, disability, injury, condition, or death ... is due to factors unrelated to the administration of the vaccine ...”

42 U.S.C.A. § 300aa-13(a)(l). The petitioner bears the burden of proving the factors stated in § 300aa-ll(c)(l) by a preponderance of the evidence. Id. Section 2111(c)(1) requires, in pertinent part, that the petitioner show either that she “sustained ... [an] injury or condition set forth in the Vaccine Injury Table” or that she “sustained ... [an] injury, or condition not set forth in the Vaccine Injury Table but which was caused by a vaccine ...” Id. § 300aa-ll(c)(l)(C)(i) and (ii)(I). Both petitioner and respondent agree that this is a “non-Table” case. Although the vaccine is listed, JRA is not set forth on the Vaccine Injury Table. See id. § 300aa-14(a). Therefore, the petitioner was required to prove to the Special Master by a preponderance of the evidence that the rubella vaccine inoculation was the cause in-fact of her JRA. Id. § 300aa-13(a).

3. The Special Master’s Decision

In determining whether Carter’s JRA was caused by the rubella vaccination, the Special Master applied the proper legal standard. “Causation in fact requires proof of a logical sequence of cause and effect showing that the vaccination was the reason for the injury. A reputable medical or scientific explanation must support this logical sequence of cause and effect.” Strother v. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, 18 Cl.Ct. 816, 820 (1989) (citing Hasler v. United States, 718 F.2d at 205-06; 42 U.S.C.A. § 300aa-13(a)(l)). The decision of the Special Master reflects careful consideration and thoughtful analysis of the medical evidence and testimony presented at the evidentiary hearing and on the record. Carter v. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, No. 89-80V, slip op. at 3-7 (Cl.Ct. June 27, 1990) (decision of Special Master). The Special Master concluded that “it appears that it is not generally accepted in the medical community that rubella virus — whether in its wild [654]*654state or in its attenuated form in vaccine— causes rheumatoid arthritis.” Id. at 6.

Petitioner does not directly challenge the finding that it is medically uncertain whether rubella causes JRA, but rather asserts that the Special Master failed to adequately consider the temporal association between the inoculation and the onset of JRA.

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21 Cl. Ct. 651, 1990 U.S. Claims LEXIS 413, 1990 WL 166831, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carter-v-secretary-of-the-department-of-health-human-services-cc-1990.