James Struck v. HHS - bad cough, weakness, and muscle weakness (2018)

James Struck filed a petition for vaccine injury compensation on September 18, 2017, alleging lifelong symptoms of bad cough, weakness, and muscle weakness linked to numerous vaccinations received between 1968 and 2005. The petition also included claims unrelated to vaccine injuries, which the court dismissed due to lack of jurisdiction.

Respondent moved to dismiss the vaccine-related claims as time-barred. The court found that all vaccine-related claims were filed outside the statutory limitations periods.

Claims for vaccines administered before October 1, 1988, were subject to a 28-month limit from that date, and the petition was filed over 28 years later. Claims for vaccines administered after October 1, 1988, required filing within 36 months of symptom onset, and the petitioner's alleged last vaccination in 2005 and ongoing symptoms did not meet this requirement.

The court also rejected arguments for equitable tolling, citing the petitioner's ignorance of the Vaccine Act and the lack of extraordinary circumstances. The court noted that the petitioner, born in 1967, was an adult and that legal representatives can file on behalf of minors, making tolling based on childhood injury irrelevant to his adult claim.

Consequently, the court granted Respondent's motion to dismiss the case.