Tonya E. Dixon v. HHS - Influenza, Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration (SIRVA) (2022)
Case summary [AI summaries can sometimes make mistakes]
Tonya E. Dixon filed a petition under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program on August 26, 2019, alleging a Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration (SIRVA) following an influenza vaccine received on September 21, 2017.
Ms. Dixon contended that her injury met the Table definition for SIRVA and that she experienced residual effects for more than six months.
The respondent denied that Ms. Dixon sustained a SIRVA Table injury or that the vaccine caused her alleged injury.
Despite these opposing positions, the parties reached a joint stipulation to settle the case. Chief Special Master Brian H.
Corcoran adopted the stipulation, awarding Ms. Dixon a lump sum of $20,000.00 for all items of damages.
This decision represents a settlement of liability and damages, and the stipulation explicitly states it is not an admission by the government that the vaccine caused the injury. Petitioner was represented by Richard William Zahn, Jr. of the Joel Bieber Firm, and Respondent was represented by Ronalda Elnetta Kosh of the U.S.
Department of Justice.
Theory of causation
Petitioner Tonya E. Dixon alleged a Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration (SIRVA) after receiving an influenza vaccine on September 21, 2017, claiming it met the Table definition or was caused-in-fact by the vaccine. Respondent denied a Table injury or vaccine causation. The parties filed a joint stipulation agreeing to settle the case. Chief Special Master Brian H. Corcoran adopted the stipulation, awarding a lump sum of $20,000.00 for all damages. The stipulation, dated May 9, 2022, and adopted as a decision on June 21, 2022, does not detail specific medical experts or a mechanism of injury beyond the general SIRVA allegation. Petitioner was represented by Richard William Zahn, Jr., and Respondent by Ronalda Elnetta Kosh.
Source PDFs
USCOURTS-cofc-1_19-vv-01279