Jessica Ramirez v. HHS - Influenza, shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) (2024)

Jessica Ramirez, born in 1942, filed a petition on January 8, 2021, alleging a shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) following an influenza vaccine received on September 1, 2020. Petitioner reported right shoulder pain starting 19 days after the vaccination, which she attributed to the flu shot.

Medical records from September 20, 2020, noted right shoulder pain exacerbated by activity, rated 5/10, disrupting sleep, and described as "most likely some nerve pain after vaccination." Subsequent records from October 8, 2020, indicated the pain had increased to 8/10, particularly with raising the arm, and was assessed as a soft tissue injury. An X-ray on December 23, 2020, found "significant subacromial impingement with external rotation and abduction." An orthopedist, Dr.

John Klein, noted persistent pain since the flu shot, positive weakness with resisted external rotation, and a tentative assessment of a rotator cuff tendon tear, but could not perform an MRI due to a pacemaker. Over the following eight months, Petitioner attended numerous medical appointments for chronic heart issues, with no documented treatment for her shoulder.

During this period, Petitioner received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in the same right arm in May 2021. On September 10, 2021, Petitioner presented for follow-up on right shoulder pain, with the PCP noting pain on abduction over 90 degrees and assessing "right shoulder pain unspecified chronicity." A CT scan revealed mild glenohumeral and acromioclavicular osteoarthritis and moderate sternoclavicular osteoarthritis.

Petitioner was offered a referral to an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Joel Thompson, in October 2021, but never presented for an appointment.

Petitioner's adult children provided affidavits recalling her shoulder pain throughout 2021, with one daughter recalling a specific phone call on March 16, 2021, and witnessing the injury in late March 2021. Petitioner stated she deferred treatment due to fear of contracting COVID-19.

The respondent argued that the claim did not meet the Vaccine Act's severity requirement, which mandates that the injury's residual effects persist for at least six months post-vaccination. Chief Special Master Brian H.

Corcoran agreed, finding that the evidence did not preponderantly establish that Ms. Ramirez suffered from the shoulder injury for the required six-month period (until March 1, 2021).

The Special Master noted the injury appeared mild, with a significant eight-month gap in treatment for the shoulder, during which Petitioner sought care for other conditions and received COVID-19 vaccines in the same arm. The Special Master concluded that this treatment gap, along with the administration of COVID-19 vaccines in the affected arm, suggested the injury had likely resolved or was manageable conservatively, and represented a potential alternative cause for any subsequent issues.

Because Petitioner failed to establish the severity requirement, her claim was dismissed on September 25, 2024, with no award granted. Petitioner was represented by Leah VaSahnja Durant, and Respondent was represented by Parisa Tabassian.