Adrian Williams v. HHS - Tdap, septic shock (2022)

Adrian Williams filed a petition alleging she suffered septic shock as a result of receiving Tdap and influenza vaccines on September 9, 2017. The respondent moved to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction, citing a provision of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act that prohibits filing a claim in the Vaccine Program if a civil action for the same vaccine injury is pending.

Ms. Williams had filed a civil action against Rite Aid, the vaccine administrator, in Louisiana state court on September 7, 2018, prior to filing her Vaccine Program petition on March 31, 2020.

Although the state court action was stayed by mutual consent, it remained pending. The court found that it lacked jurisdiction because the petition was filed while a civil action was ongoing, as per 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-11(a)(5)(B).

The court denied Ms. Williams' request to suspend proceedings to allow her to dismiss the state court case, stating that jurisdictional defects cannot be waived or cured by subsequent actions.

Consequently, the petition was dismissed without prejudice.