Joseph Mattachione v. HHS - Influenza, left shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) (2025)

On January 8, 2021, Joseph Mattachione filed a petition alleging that an influenza vaccination on September 23, 2020 caused a left shoulder injury related to vaccine administration. Respondent opposed compensation, arguing that he had not shown six-month residual effects and that the record did not satisfy several Table SIRVA criteria.

The medical record was mixed. Before vaccination, Mr.

Mattachione had obesity, type 2 diabetes, and a history of right shoulder osteoarthritis and rotator cuff surgery in 2018. On October 20, 2020, he told his primary-care provider that left shoulder and upper-arm pain had been present for about three weeks after the flu shot.

On November 4, 2020, however, he told an orthopedist that he had been dealing with left shoulder pain for two to three months, which would place onset before vaccination. A November 14 MRI showed tendinosis and low-grade tears of the infraspinatus and supraspinatus, a SLAP tear, advanced AC joint degenerative osteoarthrosis with rotator cuff encroachment, and bursitis.

Five days later he received Tdap and shingles vaccines in the same left arm, with no shoulder pain mentioned in that visit record. After a December 2020 steroid injection, Mr.

Mattachione attended physical therapy from January to early March 2021 and improved substantially. By discharge on March 5, 2021, he reported no difficulty with most activities, only slight difficulty sleeping, doing laundry, and throwing a ball, and he had met all PT goals.

A new primary-care visit in April 2021 did not mention left shoulder symptoms, and the next shoulder complaint appeared in March 2022, after the case had been pending for more than a year. Chief Special Master Brian H.

Corcoran assumed for argument that the early symptoms could be linked to vaccination, but found Mr. Mattachione had not proved residual effects beyond the six-month cutoff.

The decision emphasized the inconsistent onset histories, MRI findings that could explain symptoms, atypical radiating/tingling complaints, near-complete PT recovery, and lack of corroborating evidence after March 2021. The case was dismissed on September 29, 2025, and no compensation was awarded.