Yvonne Romo v. HHS - Influenza, shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) (2023)
Case summary [AI summaries can sometimes make mistakes]
Yvonne Romo filed a petition on January 8, 2021, for compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, alleging she suffered a shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) after receiving an influenza vaccine on September 22, 2020. The respondent, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, did not file a response to the petitioner's subsequent motion.
On October 23, 2023, Ms. Romo filed a motion to dismiss her petition, explaining that her counsel discovered she had filed two claims for the same alleged SIRVA from the same vaccination and that she had already received compensation in the other claim.
Ms. Romo stated that proceeding with this duplicative claim would be unreasonable and an improper use of court resources.
Chief Special Master Brian H. Corcoran reviewed the case.
The public decision does not describe the specific symptoms, medical tests, or treatments Ms. Romo underwent.
The decision notes that the Vaccine Act permits only one petition per vaccine administration. Because Ms.
Romo had already received compensation for this injury in a prior, related claim (Romo v. Sec'y of Health & Hum.
Servs., No. 21-1638V, 2023 WL 3596397, decided May 23, 2023), the Chief Special Master found that the current petition must be dismissed as a duplicative filing. Judgment was entered accordingly, dismissing the case.
Theory of causation
Petitioner Yvonne Romo alleged a shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) following an influenza vaccine on September 22, 2020. The public decision does not detail the specific theory of causation, medical experts, or the mechanism of injury. The case was dismissed because the petitioner filed a duplicative claim for the same injury from the same vaccination, having already received compensation in a prior, related claim (Romo v. Sec'y of Health & Hum. Servs., No. 21-1638V, 2023 WL 3596397). The dismissal was based on the Vaccine Act's provision that only one petition may be filed per vaccine administration. The decision was issued by Chief Special Master Brian H. Corcoran on December 19, 2023. Petitioner's counsel was Ronald Craig Homer, and respondent's counsel was Mary Eileen Holmes. No award was made as the case was dismissed.
Source PDFs
USCOURTS-cofc-1_21-vv-00378