Special Master Applied Wrong Standard of Proof in Vaccine Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled that the parents of a child who developed a seizure disorder after being vaccinated are entitled to damages because they established a connection between the vaccination and their son's first seizure. Andreu v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, No. 08-5184 (Fed. Cir. Ct.).

On June 18, the appellate panel ruled that a special master erred in requiring conclusive evidence in the medical literature linking the vaccine to afebrile seizures.

"Requiring epidemiologic studies or general acceptance in the scientific or medical communities impermissibly raises a …