Janell Ross v. HHS - Influenza, Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration (SIRVA) (2022)

On December 20, 2017, Janell Ross filed a petition for compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, alleging she suffered a Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration (SIRVA) after receiving an influenza vaccine on January 9, 2017. Petitioner counsel was Leah V.

Durant, and respondent counsel was Colleen C. Hartley.

Special Master Thomas L. Gowen presided over the case.

Petitioner's medical records indicated that her left shoulder pain began within 48 hours of the vaccination, with symptoms including pain, stiffness, and reduced range of motion. She sought treatment from her primary care physician, Dr.

Sunita Gaur, and later from orthopedists, including Dr. E.

Carey Windler, who initially suspected possible deltoid/axillary nerve injury and later diagnosed adhesive capsulitis. An EMG/nerve conduction study showed left suprascapular neuropathy, but subsequent evaluations and expert opinions suggested this was not the primary cause of her ongoing symptoms.

Petitioner's expert, Dr. Lesley J.

Anderson, a Board-Certified Orthopedic Surgeon, opined that petitioner suffered acute bursitis following the vaccination, which developed into adhesive capsulitis, and met the Table criteria for SIRVA, noting that the EMG findings of neuropathy were a "red herring." Respondent's expert, Dr. Paul J.

Cagle, also a Board-Certified Orthopaedic Surgeon, acknowledged the onset of pain within 48 hours but argued that the injury mechanism was not established and that the findings were not consistent with SIRVA or nerve injury. Special Master Gowen, in a ruling on entitlement dated October 13, 2021, found that petitioner established by preponderant evidence that she suffered a Table SIRVA.

He noted that the vaccination was administered to her left arm, that her symptoms began within 48 hours, that the pain and reduced range of motion were confined to her left shoulder, and that no other condition explained her symptoms. A subsequent decision on June 6, 2022, awarded Janell Ross $97,500.00 in compensation for pain and suffering, based on a proffer of award agreed upon by both parties.