Kavita Desai v. HHS - Influenza, right shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) (2020)

Kavita Desai, a 48-year-old physician and medical researcher, received an influenza vaccine on November 15, 2012. She alleged that this vaccination caused a right shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA).

The primary dispute in this case was whether the vaccine was administered in the right arm, as petitioner claimed, or the left arm, as indicated on a vaccination record. Petitioner testified that the vaccine was given in her right arm because blood had been drawn from her left arm earlier that day, and she also noted inconsistencies in the timing recorded on the vaccination record.

Multiple medical records from treating physicians in India and the US consistently documented her right shoulder pain and limited range of motion, attributing it to the flu shot. Respondent argued that the contemporaneous medical record indicating the left arm was more reliable and that her pain onset was gradual and not within the 48-hour window required for SIRVA.

However, the Special Master found petitioner's testimony credible and corroborated by subsequent medical records, establishing that the vaccine was administered in her right arm and that pain began immediately. The court also found that petitioner met the criteria for SIRVA, including a logical sequence of cause and effect and a proximate temporal relationship between the vaccination and her injury.

The court ruled that Kavita Desai is entitled to compensation for her SIRVA, with damages to be determined in a separate decision. The case was filed on September 4, 2014, and the entitlement ruling was issued on July 30, 2020.