Appellate court revives claim that vaccine disabled boy
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Winston-Salem Journal,
Wednesday, March 2, 2005
Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. - A Cary couple who blames a childhood vaccine for their
11-year-old son's developmental disabilities has been given another chance
to take their case to the state Industrial Commission.
The state Court of Appeals sent the case back to the commission Tuesday
because only two commissioners reviewed the appeal instead of the required
three.
The commissioners affirmed a ruling that denied the family's claim that
their son's injuries were vaccine-related. Andrew and Catherine Goetz hope
to recover the maximum of $300,000 allowed under state law for their son's
disabilities.
"It brings the case back active again. It gives my son hope," Andrew Goetz
said Tuesday. "We're doing this for our son."
Hayden Goetz was born May 14, 1993. He developed normally until he received
a series of vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, his parents say.
He suffered a high fever and irritability after receiving each of the three
shots, according to court records. Afterward, his parents noticed that
Hayden wasn't reaching the same developmental milestones as other children.
For example, Hayden did not crawl until he was more than a year old and did
not walk until he was 2, his father said.
At age 4, doctors discovered Hayden was allergic to the pertussis vaccine
and the boy was diagnosed with slow brain development, according to his
father. By age 9, Hayden functioned at an 18-month-old's level. He was not
toilet trained, could not dress or feed himself and could only speak 15 to
20 words, according to court records.
Now, his father says, Hayden understands language but his speech is still
limited, and he is toilet trained.
In the 1980s, federal and state governments passed vaccine-related injury
compensation programs, said the family's attorney, Peter Sarda. The Goetzes
had to exhaust any federal claim, even though the statute of limitations had
already expired, before they could file a claim with North Carolina's
program.
