Dennis Vivians v. HHS - Influenza, shoulder injury (2022)

Dennis Vivians filed a petition under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program alleging that the flu vaccine he received on October 8, 2018, caused him to experience a shoulder injury. After initially filing a Table claim for SIRVA, he voluntarily dismissed it to proceed solely with an off-Table, causation-in-fact claim.

Respondent filed a report arguing that Petitioner had not demonstrated entitlement to compensation. Following several extensions for Petitioner to file an expert report, he ultimately filed a motion to dismiss his own claim.

Petitioner stated that he was unable to prove entitlement to compensation and understood that a dismissal would result in a judgment against him. He also indicated an intent to elect to file a civil action in the future.

The court noted that a petitioner must support their claim with medical records or a physician's opinion, and that Petitioner had not offered expert support for his causation claim. Therefore, the court dismissed Dennis Vivians' case.