T.S. v. HHS - Influenza, shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) (2025)

On January 11, 2021, T.S. filed a petition for compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, alleging that she suffered a shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) as a result of an influenza vaccine received on November 11, 2019. Petitioner, born in 1977, had no prior history of left shoulder pain or dysfunction.

The influenza vaccine was administered in her left arm on November 11, 2019, as a work requirement. The earliest evidence of injury was a workplace incident report filed on December 23, 2019, stating the injury began on November 11, 2019, at 10:47 a.m., immediately after receiving the vaccine, with subsequent difficulties raising her left arm, lifting, and pushing a door.

On the same day, a primary care physician noted left shoulder pain that began approximately three to four weeks after the flu vaccine, with tenderness at the vaccination site and limited passive range of motion due to pain. The physician assessed likely adhesive capsulitis secondary to decreased use after the vaccination.

Petitioner began physical therapy, and by December 31, 2019, a physician's assistant noted worsening pain and severely restricting range of motion. Petitioner was placed on temporary total disability from her job as a medical researcher on December 30, 2019, and later moved to temporary partial disability.

She attended physical therapy sessions, and an MRI showed an intact rotator cuff and labrum but trace fluid in the subacromial/subdeltoid bursa. In January 2020, Petitioner resigned from her job due to the ongoing shoulder injury and loss of health insurance.

She was evaluated by an orthopedic surgeon on January 29, 2020, who assessed SIRVA, rotator cuff bursitis, and adhesive capsulitis, and administered a steroid injection. Petitioner experienced fluctuating pain and reduced range of motion throughout 2020, with her orthopedic surgeon recommending surgical intervention, specifically a bursectomy and subacromial decompression, starting in August 2020.

Workers' compensation denied further coverage, leading to a treatment gap. Petitioner received additional steroid injections and physical therapy in 2021, with her shoulder assessed as "much improved" by March 2022, though still experiencing stiffness and pain.

Following an eighteen-month gap in treatment, during which she experienced an unrelated lower back injury after a car accident, Petitioner returned for evaluation in November 2023, reporting ongoing pain and weakness with basic functions. The orthopedics PA assessed remnant posterior capsular contracture with secondary impingement.

Respondent initially disputed Petitioner's showing of onset within the required 48-hour window for a Table SIRVA claim. However, the Special Master found that Petitioner had established the onset of left shoulder pain within 48 hours post-vaccination, supported by her workplace incident report and subsequent medical records, including a workers' compensation physician's acceptance of immediate onset.

The Special Master concluded that Petitioner met all criteria for a Table SIRVA, including no prior history of shoulder issues, onset within the specified timeframe, pain and reduced range of motion limited to the left shoulder, and no other condition explaining the symptoms. The injury persisted for more than six months, and the vaccine was administered in the United States.

The Special Master awarded T.S. $95,000.00 for pain and suffering and $2,672.00 for unreimbursable expenses, totaling $97,672.00. The award considered the moderately severe nature and duration of the injury, her job resignation due to the condition, and financial obstacles to recommended surgery.

Petitioner was represented by Brynna Gang of Kraus Law Group, LLC, and Respondent was represented by Mitchell Jones. The decision was issued by Chief Special Master Brian H.

Corcoran.