Chris McMullen v. HHS - Tdap, shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) (2023)

Chris McMullen filed a petition alleging that a Tdap vaccine administered on November 7, 2018, caused a shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA). The initial special master found that Mr.

McMullen's shoulder pain began in late November 2018, which was outside the 48-hour window required for an on-Table SIRVA claim. This finding meant he did not qualify for automatic compensation under the Vaccine Injury Table.

The case was reassigned, and Mr. McMullen sought compensation by arguing for an off-Table, causation-in-fact claim.

He submitted medical articles and argued that his injury met the Althen prongs for causation. However, his argument for the temporal proximity prong relied on an assertion of immediate onset, which contradicted the prior finding of onset in late November.

The court found that Mr. McMullen failed to establish the necessary temporal relationship for an off-Table claim, as his alleged onset was too distant from the vaccination date.

Consequently, the court denied his petition for compensation, and no award was granted. The decision was issued on August 3, 2023, following the petition filed on April 21, 2020.