Melissa Papineau v. HHS - Influenza, Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration (SIRVA) (2020)

Melissa Papineau filed a petition for compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program on August 23, 2018, alleging she suffered a Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration (SIRVA) after receiving an influenza vaccine on October 22, 2017. The respondent, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, denied that the vaccine caused the petitioner's injury.

Despite this denial, the parties filed a joint stipulation for compensation on March 13, 2020. Chief Special Master Brian H.

Corcoran reviewed and adopted the stipulation, issuing a decision on March 13, 2020. The decision awarded Melissa Papineau a lump sum of $97,440.19, payable to her.

This amount was stipulated to represent compensation for all damages available under the Vaccine Act. The stipulation also outlined that attorneys' fees and costs would be addressed in further proceedings.

The parties agreed that the stipulation represented a full and complete settlement of liability and damages, except for attorneys' fees and costs, and that it was not an admission by the United States that the vaccine caused the alleged injury. Petitioner was represented by Michael G.

McLaren of Black McLaren Jones Ryland & Griffee, P.C., and respondent was represented by Lynn Christina Schlie of the U.S. Department of Justice.