Alison Guthrie v. HHS - Influenza, shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (2024)

Alison Guthrie filed a claim under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act alleging she suffered a shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) resulting from an influenza vaccination received on October 9, 2019. She filed her petition with the Court of Federal Claims on September 1, 2020.

The respondent filed a report recommending against compensation, and the court ordered the petitioner to submit an expert report supporting her claim. However, after further investigation, Ms.

Guthrie concluded she would be unable to prove entitlement to compensation. She subsequently filed a Motion for a Decision Dismissing her Petition, acknowledging that such a dismissal would end her rights in the Vaccine Program.

The court noted that to receive compensation, a petitioner must prove either a Table Injury or that a covered vaccine actually caused the injury, requiring a medical theory, a logical sequence of cause and effect, and a proximate temporal relationship. Because Ms.

Guthrie's medical records did not support her allegations by a preponderance of the evidence and she did not file an expert medical opinion, the Special Master granted her motion and dismissed the petition for failure to establish a prima facie case of entitlement. The clerk was directed to enter judgment accordingly.