Lari Talbert v. HHS - Tdap, debilitating pain, suspension tremor, restricted range of motion, and impingement of her right shoulder and arm (2024)
Case summary [AI summaries can sometimes make mistakes]
On May 17, 2018, Lari Talbert filed a petition under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, later amending it on October 9, 2018. Talbert alleged that the Tdap vaccine she received on October 19, 2016, caused her debilitating pain, suspension tremor, restricted range of motion, and impingement of her right shoulder and arm.
She claimed both a Table injury (SIRVA) and an off-Table, causation-in-fact injury. The respondent, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, argued that Talbert's pre-existing condition from a 2009 work-related fall explained her symptoms and that she failed to meet the criteria for a Table SIRVA claim.
Special Master Herbrina Sanders issued a decision on April 18, 2024, finding that Talbert had not met her legal burden to prove entitlement to compensation. The Special Master determined that Talbert failed to provide preponderant evidence for either a Table SIRVA or an off-Table injury caused by the vaccine.
The petition was dismissed. David A.
Tierney of Rawls Law Group represented the Petitioner, and Zoe Wade from the United States Department of Justice represented the Respondent. The public decision does not detail the specific dollar amount of any award, as the petition was dismissed.
The public decision does not describe the specific mechanism of injury or provide details on any specific diagnostic tests performed beyond those mentioned in the medical records and expert reports.
Theory of causation
Petitioner Lari Talbert, aged 52, received a Tdap vaccine on October 19, 2016. She alleged this caused debilitating pain, suspension tremor, restricted range of motion, and impingement of her right shoulder and arm, claiming both a Table SIRVA injury and an off-Table, causation-in-fact injury. Petitioner's expert, Dr. Daniel E. Carr, opined that the Tdap vaccine caused a new right shoulder injury, distinct from her 2009 work-related fall, citing immediate onset of pain worsening over days, requiring extensive treatment, and noting a lack of objective evidence of shoulder pathology from prior work-related injury evaluations. Respondent's expert, Dr. Jennifer J. Winell, opined that Petitioner's symptoms were not vaccine-related, pointing to her extensive pre-vaccination history of right shoulder pain from the 2009 fall, which could explain the current symptoms, and noting that Petitioner did not meet the criteria for a Table SIRVA, specifically the lack of a history of no prior pain, timely onset of symptoms, and the presence of alternative conditions like AC joint arthritis and degenerative changes. Special Master Herbrina Sanders dismissed the petition, finding Petitioner failed to provide preponderant evidence for a Table SIRVA claim due to her significant pre-existing shoulder pain from the 2009 fall, delayed reporting of symptoms, and the existence of alternative conditions. For the off-Table claim, the Special Master found Petitioner failed to establish a general causation theory, a logical sequence of cause and effect beyond temporal association, or a proximate temporal relationship, noting the lack of medical literature or expert explanation for how the Tdap vaccine could cause SIRVA and that Petitioner's shoulder pain pre-dated the vaccination and was not proven to be significantly aggravated by it. The decision was issued on April 18, 2024. Petitioner was represented by David A. Tierney, and Respondent by Zoe Wade.
Source PDFs
USCOURTS-cofc-1_18-vv-00699