United States Court of Federal Claims
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Case 1:01-vv-00162 Document 124 Filed 03/11/08 Page 1 of 302 UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS COLTEN SNYDER BY AND THROUGH ) KATHERINE SNYDER AND JOSEPH ) SNYDER, HIS NATURAL GUARDIANS ) AND NEXT FRIENDS, ) ) Petitioners, ) ) Docket No.: 01-162V v. ) ) SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND ) HUMAN SERVICES, ) ) Respondent. ) REVISED AND CORRECTED COPY Pages: 1 through 292 Place: Orlando, Florida Date: November 5, 2007 HERITAGE REPORTING CORPORATION Official Reporters 1220 L Street, N.W., Suite 600 Washington, D.C. 20005-4018 (202) 628-4888 [email protected] Case 1:01-vv-00162 Document 124 Filed 03/11/08 Page 2 of 302 1 UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS COLTEN SNYDER BY AND THROUGH ) KATHERINE SNYDER AND JOSEPH ) SNYDER, HIS NATURAL GUARDIANS ) AND NEXT FRIENDS, ) ) Petitioners, ) ) Docket No.: 01-162V v. ) ) SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND ) HUMAN SERVICES, ) ) Respondent. ) Courtroom 56 U.S. District Court 401 West Central Boulevard Orlando, Florida 32801 Monday November 5, 2007 The hearing in the above-entitled matter was convened, pursuant to notice, at 9:00 a.m. BEFORE: HONORABLE DENISE K. VOWELL Special Master APPEARANCES: On Behalf of the Petitioners: CHRISTOPHER W. WICKERSHAM, SR., Esquire Wickersham & Bowers 501 North Grandview Avenue, Suite 115 Daytona Beach, Florida 32115 (386) 252-3000 Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 Case 1:01-vv-00162 Document 124 Filed 03/11/08 Page 3 of 302 2 APPEARANCES: (Cont'd.) On Behalf of the Petitioners: THOMAS B. POWERS, Esquire Williams Love O'Leary & Powers, Inc. 9755 SW Barnes Road, Suite #450 Portland, Oregon 97225-6681 (503) 295-2924 On Behalf of the Inspector General: VINCENT MATANOSKI, Esquire, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR VORIS E. "VO" JOHNSON, JR., Esquire KATHERINE C. ESPOSITO, Esquire U.S. Department of Justice Civil Division Ben Franklin Station P.O. Box 146 Washington, D.C. 20044-0146 (202) 616-4136 Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 Case 1:01-vv-00162 Document 124 Filed 03/11/08 Page 4 of 302 3 C O N T E N T S VOIR WITNESSES: DIRECT CROSS REDIRECT RECROSS DIRE Katherine Snyder 35 72 -- -- Samantha Noonan 81 -- -- -- Katherine Timlin 102 128 137 138 James Bradstreet 140 217 284 285 Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 Case 1:01-vv-00162 Document 124 Filed 03/11/08 Page 5 of 302 4 E X H I B I T S PETITIONERS' EXHIBITS: IDENTIFIED RECEIVED DESCRIPTION 1 141 -- Bradstreet Curriculum Vitae 2 145 -- Bradstreet Case Review 12 223 -- Child Evaluation Form RESPONDENT'S Trial Exhibit 1 228 -- Medications and Supplements Listed in Bradstreet's Medical Records Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 Case 1:01-vv-00162 Document 124 Filed 03/11/08 Page 6 of 302 5 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 (9:00 a.m.) 3 THE COURT: Good morning. We are on the 4 record in the matter of Snyder versus The Secretary of 5 the Department of Health and Human Services Case No. 6 01-162. 7 Today's proceeding has two purposes. The 8 first is to resolve the petition of Mr. and Mrs. 9 Snyder who are present here in the courtroom on behalf 10 of their son Colten by hearing factual and expert 11 testimony on their claim under the National Childhood 12 Vaccine Injury Act. 13 And the claim is that immunizations Colten 14 received caused his pervasive developmental delay. 15 This case has been assigned to me, Special 16 Master Denise Vowell for resolution. 17 After the conclusion of today's proceedings 18 and this week's proceedings actually and the 19 submission of post trial matters I alone will 20 determine whether the Snyders are entitled to 21 compensation. 22 However this case also serves as the third 23 of the first three test cases under the Omnibus Autism 24 Proceedings which is sometimes called the OAP. 25 The first theory of causation is advanced by Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 Case 1:01-vv-00162 Document 124 Filed 03/11/08 Page 7 of 302 6 1 the Petitioners' Steering Committee. While the 2 Snyders are bringing a specific claim on behalf of 3 Colten they have also agreed to permit their case to 4 be heard as one of the first group of test cases in 5 the Omnibus Autism Proceedings. 6 Thus this case will help the Court resolve 7 the general question of whether childhood vaccines can 8 cause the neurodevelopmental problems known generally 9 as autism spectrum disorders. 10 The OAP was designed as a method to fairly 11 and efficiently resolve the nearly 5000 individual 12 vaccine claims filed by families on behalf of children 13 who have a disorder on the autism spectrum. 14 Under the omnibus procedures established 15 three Special Masters will hear the expert medical and 16 scientific testimony on each of the three theories 17 advanced by the autism petitioners within the context 18 of individual cases for a total of nine test cases. 19 In resolving the question of causation under 20 each theory the Special Master assigned to the 21 individual case will issue an opinion on a specific 22 case while also evaluating the general causation 23 theory advanced. 24 Each test case is decided on its particular 25 facts as well as the specific scientific evidence Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 Case 1:01-vv-00162 Document 124 Filed 03/11/08 Page 8 of 302 7 1 deduced in that case and such of the general causation 2 evidence from the other test cases as the parties ask 3 the Court to consider. 4 Thus the scientific evidence deduced in this 5 case may be applied in the other two test cases and in 6 the OAP in general. 7 Because this is one of the three test cases 8 on the first theory of causation the Snyder Family has 9 agreed to permit this hearing to be open to the public 10 and further to permit the testimony in this case to be 11 publicly available in the form of audio files and 12 transcripts to be posted on the court's web site soon 13 after the conclusion of this hearing. 14 The families of Michelle Cedillo and Yates 15 Hazlehurst, the other two test cases, have likewise 16 permitted the testimony in their hearings to be 17 publicly disclosed. 18 Because the evidence in each of the three 19 test cases will be available to help us resolve the 20 other cases in the OAP, Special Master Campbell-Smith 21 is here in the courtroom today and will be joined 22 later today by Special Master George Hastings. They 23 are the other two Special Masters assigned to the 24 autism docket. 25 Based on the sensitive and confidential Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 Case 1:01-vv-00162 Document 124 Filed 03/11/08 Page 9 of 302 8 1 nature of evidence in vaccine cases and the statutory 2 protections against disclosure of evidence in such 3 cases, most vaccine hearings are not open to the 4 public. 5 Mr. and Mrs. Snyder, like the two families 6 who had their test cases heard earlier this year, have 7 taken the unusual and courageous step of permitting 8 public access and public disclosure of the testimony 9 in Colten's case so that the other families affected 10 by this omnibus proceeding have the benefit of hearing 11 and reading the testimony that may help to resolve 12 their claims. 13 Mr. and Mrs. Snyder, we thank you for 14 stepping forward and agreeing to have Colten's case 15 serve as one of these three test cases on this first 16 theory of whether Thimerosal containing vaccines and 17 the MMR vaccine can combine to cause autism spectrum 18 disorders which include Colten's condition. 19 Turning now to some housekeeping matters, I 20 anticipate beginning testimony each day of this 21 hearing promptly at 9:00 a.m. We'll conclude the 22 day's proceedings at approximately 5:00 p.m. with an 23 hour break for lunch and a mid morning and mid 24 afternoon recess. 25 And finally I remind all of the aforesaid Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 Case 1:01-vv-00162 Document 124 Filed 03/11/08 Page 10 of 302 9 1 present here that we are guests in this brand new 2 Federal Courthouse and ask that you do everything 3 possible to minimize our impact on our host, the 4 Judges and Court support staff of the Middle District 5 of Florida. 6 With that are there matters we need to take 7 up before we begin with opening statements? 8 MR. POWERS: Yes, Special Master. 9 THE COURT: Mr. Powers, I'm going to ask 10 that at this point if you would introduce yourself and 11 co-counsel for the record and then Mr. Matanoski if 12 you would do the same for the Respondent. 13 MR. MATANOSKI: Yes, ma'am. 14 MR. POWERS: Be delighted to, Special 15 Master. My name is Tom Powers. I'm actually here in 16 two roles. The first role is as an attorney 17 representing the Petitioners' Steering Committee. 18 It's the group of lawyers with claims in the OAP and 19 we're here with an interest obviously as the Special 20 Master described about the general causation issues. 21 I'm also privileged to be able to 22 participate in the presentation of Colten Snyder's 23 individual petition.