Colleen Dotson v. HHS - Influenza, shoulder injury including adhesive capsulitis and bursitis (2015)

Colleen Dotson filed a petition for compensation on January 29, 2015, alleging injury from an influenza vaccine she received on October 24, 2012. She claimed the vaccine caused a shoulder injury, specifically adhesive capsulitis and bursitis, with residual effects lasting over six months.

The respondent, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, denied that the vaccine caused or aggravated her condition. Despite the denial, the parties reached a stipulation for damages.

The court awarded Colleen Dotson a lump sum of $75,000.00 as compensation for all damages available under the program. Separately, the court also awarded $14,000.00 for attorneys' fees and costs, an amount to which the respondent did not object.

The decision on fees and costs was issued on October 16, 2015, the same date as the stipulation awarding damages. The public decision does not describe the specific onset of symptoms, medical tests performed, or treatments received.

No specific medical experts were named in the public decision. The specific mechanism of injury was not detailed in the public decision.