VICP Registry Case Source Bundle Canonical URL: https://vicp-registry.org/case/USCOURTS-cofc-1_16-vv-01719 Package ID: USCOURTS-cofc-1_16-vv-01719 Petitioner: Ju Won Lee Filed: 2016-12-30 Decided: 2017-03-29 Vaccine: Pneumovax Vaccination date: 2016-09-26 Condition: right shoulder pain Outcome: dismissed Award amount USD: AI-assisted case summary: Ju Won Lee filed a petition alleging that a Pneumovax (PPV/23) vaccination administered on September 26, 2016, caused him right shoulder pain. Mr. Lee, who filed his petition on December 30, 2016, did not provide page numbers for his petition and attached medical records. The case was initially assigned to Chief Special Master Nora Beth Dorsey and later reassigned to Special Master Laura D. Millman. Mr. Lee failed to contact the court to schedule an initial status conference by the March 10, 2017 deadline. Consequently, Special Master Millman issued an Order to Show Cause on March 13, 2017, giving Mr. Lee until March 27, 2017, to respond. Mr. Lee did not respond to this order. The court noted that the Pneumovax (PPV/23) vaccine is not listed on the Vaccine Injury Table. Because the vaccine was not on the Table, the court lacked the authority to decide whether it caused Mr. Lee's injury. The court also dismissed the case for failure to obey two court orders. Therefore, the petition was dismissed. Theory of causation field: Table Public staged source text: ================================================================================ DOCUMENT 1: USCOURTS-cofc-1_16-vv-01719-0 Date issued/filed: 2017-04-25 Pages: 3 Docket text: PUBLIC DECISION (Originally filed: 3/29/2017) regarding 10 DECISION of Special Master. Signed by Special Master Laura D Millman. (kh) Copy to parties. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Case 1:16-vv-01719-UNJ Document 11 Filed 04/25/17 Page 1 of 3 REISSUED FOR PUBLICATION ORIGINAL 25 APR 2017 OSM U.S. COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS 1Jn tbe Wntteb of jfe beral ~tate~ ~ourt ~latm~ OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS No.16-1719V Filed: March 29, 2017 Not to be Published MAR 29 2017 ************************************* OSM JU WON LEE, * U.S. COURT OF FEDERAi. CLAIMS * • Petitioner, * PPV/ 23 ("Pneumovax") vaccine; • v. not on Vaccine Injury Table; • case dismissed • SECRETARY OF HEALTH • AND HUMAN SERVICES, • • Respondent. • ************************************* Ju Won Lee, Los Angeles, CA, prose. Sarah C. Duncan, Washington, DC, for respondent. MILLMAN, Special Master DECISION1 On December 30, 2016, petitioner Mr. Lee filed a petition alleging that a PPV/23 ("Pneumovax") vaccination in his left deltoid on September 26, 2016 caused him right shoulder pain. Petition at pages 3, 7, and 9 (because petitioner did not number the pages in his petition and attached medical records, the undersigned numbered them by hand, starting with page I which is Mr. Lee's handwritten letter.) On February 24, 2017, Chief Special Master Nora Beth Dorsey issued a Scheduling and Reassignment Order, giving Mr. Lee until March 10, 2017 to call or e-mail Terriesa Felder to set up an initial status conference and reassigning the case to the undersigned Special Master Laura 1 Because this unpublished decision contains a reasoned explanation for the special master's action in this case, the special master intends to post this unpublished decision on the United States Court of Federal Claims' website, in accordance with the E-Govemment Act of2002, 44 U.S.C. § 3501 note (2012) (Federal Management and Promotion of Electronic Government Services). Vaccine Rule 18(b) states that all decisions of the special masters will be made available to the public unless they contain trade secrets or commercial or financial information that is privileged and confidential, or medical or similar information whose disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy. When such a decision is filed, petitioner has 14 days to identify and move to redact such information prior to the document's enclosure. If the special master, upon review, agrees that the identified material fits within the banned categories listed above, the special master shall redact such material from public access. Case 1:16-vv-01719-UNJ Document 11 Filed 04/25/17 Page 2 of 3 D. Millman. Petitioner Mr. Lee failed to contact Terriesa Felder by March 10, 2017 or at any time thereafter. On March 13, 2017, the undersigned issued an Order to Show Cause why this case should not be dismissed, giving a response date of March 27, 2017. Petitioner did not respond to this order. Under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-10-34 (2012), which established the Vaccine Program, the undersigned does not have authority to decide whether or not PPV /23 ("Pneumovax") caused him a vaccine injury because PPV /23 is not on the Vaccine Injury Table. Since the vaccine that petitioner Mr. Lee received is not on the Vaccine Injury Table, the undersigned must dismiss his case. The undersigned ORDERS this case DISMISSED. DISCUSSION Congress created the Vaccine Program in a statute passed in 1986, effective October 1, 1988, to permit the parents of children who had received certain vaccines listed on the Vaccine Injury Table and reacted to them to receive compensation. Congress created the Vaccine Injury Table as part of the statute, listing the vaccines recommended for children in the Vaccine Act. In addition, adults who received the same vaccines recommended for children could also sue under the Vaccine Act to receive compensation for vaccine reactions. However, if they received a vaccine not listed on the Vaccine Injury Table, their suits would be dismissed. A full description of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program ("VICP") is available at: https://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation (last visited: March 9, 2017). In the website's section on vaccines covered under the VICP is the statement: "Note: Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV, PPV) is not a VICP-covered vaccine." https://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/coveredvaccines/index.html (last visited: March 9, 2017). The pneumococcal vaccine recommended for children is a conjugate vaccine, which is different than the polysaccharide vaccine that petitioner Mr. Lee received. One of the names for the conjugate vaccine is Prevnar, also known as PPV/13. If petitioner Mr. Lee had received Prevnar (PPV/13) vaccine, which is given to both adults and children, the undersigned would have authority under the Vaccine Program to decide whether or not he is entitled to compensation. But, because petitioner Mr. Lee received Pneumovax (PPV/23), a polysaccharide vaccine, the undersigned does not have authority to decide whether petitioner Mr. Lee is entitled to compensation under the Vaccine Program. Petitioner never responded to the undersigned's Order to Show Cause or to the Chief Special Master's Order to telephone the undersigned's judicial assistant to set up a telephonic status conference. Besides dismissing this case because the undersigned does not have authority to determine if PPV /23 caused Mr. Lee a shoulder injury, the undersigned dismisses this case under Vaccine Rule 2l(b)(l) for petitioner's failure to obey two orders. 2 Case 1:16-vv-01719-UNJ Document 11 Filed 04/25/17 Page 3 of 3 This case is DISMISSED. CONCLUSION This petition is DISMISSED. In the absence of a motion for review filed pursuant to RCFC Appendix B, the clerk of the court is directed to enter judgment herewith.2 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: March 29, 2017 Laura D. Millman Special Master 2 Pursuant to Vaccine Rule l l(a), entry of judgment can be expedited by each party, either separately or jointly, filing a notice renouncing the right to seek review. 3