Dawn Patterson v. HHS - Pneumococcal, shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (2022)
Case summary [AI summaries can sometimes make mistakes]
Dawn Patterson filed a petition for compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program on January 18, 2022, alleging a shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) from a Pneumovax vaccine she received on November 9, 2017. The case was assigned to the Special Processing Unit.
On June 7, 2021, Petitioner was ordered to file a brief addressing whether the vaccine alleged as causal was covered by the Vaccine Program. After multiple motions seeking additional time, Petitioner was afforded until December 20, 2021, to show cause why the claim should not be dismissed.
In response, Petitioner conceded that the Pneumovax vaccine is not covered by the Vaccine Program and is not listed on the Vaccine Table. To be entitled to compensation under the Vaccine Act, a petitioner must show that she received a vaccine set forth in the Vaccine Injury Table.
Compensation is awarded only to individuals who have been injured by vaccines routinely administered to children. Case law recognizes two versions of the pneumococcal vaccine: pneumococcal conjugate and polysaccharide vaccines.
Only the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, which is routinely administered to children, is covered by the Vaccine Program. Petitioner received the pneumococcal polysaccharide version of the vaccine.
As such, she could not show that she received a vaccine covered under the Vaccine Program. The petition was dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.
The clerk was ordered to enter judgment accordingly. Chief Special Master Brian H.
Corcoran issued the decision on February 17, 2022.
Theory of causation
Petitioner Dawn Patterson alleged a shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) from a Pneumovax vaccine received on November 9, 2017. The Special Master ordered Petitioner to show cause why the claim should not be dismissed if the vaccine was not covered by the program. Petitioner conceded that the Pneumovax vaccine is not covered by the Vaccine Program and is not listed on the Vaccine Table. The decision notes that only the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, routinely administered to children, is covered by the program, not the pneumococcal polysaccharide version that Petitioner received. Because the vaccine was not covered by the Vaccine Injury Table, Petitioner could not establish entitlement to compensation. The petition was dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Chief Special Master Brian H. Corcoran issued the decision on February 17, 2022. Petitioner counsel and respondent counsel were not named in the public decision. No medical experts were cited in the public decision.
Source PDFs
USCOURTS-cofc-1_20-vv-01562