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

Elizabeth Mackenzie, a 78-year-old woman, filed a petition for compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program on January 12, 2021. She alleged that she suffered a shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) resulting from an influenza vaccine she received on October 23, 2019.

Petitioner was represented by Jessi Carin Huff of Maglio Christopher & Toale, PA, and the respondent was the Secretary of Health and Human Services, represented by Mary Eileen Holmes of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Chief Special Master Brian H. Corcoran issued the decision on May 30, 2024.

Petitioner's medical history prior to vaccination included lower back and bilateral leg pain, right knee arthritis, spinal stenosis, lumbar disc degeneration, radiculopathy of the lumbar spine, cardiovascular disease, and tinnitus. She had also experienced episodic arm pain in 2015, which was evaluated by a cardiologist, and reported joint swelling and arthritis in July 2019, with full range of motion in her extremities.

She had no reported arm or shoulder problems during visits for her knee arthritis in 2019. Following her influenza vaccination on October 23, 2019, Petitioner reported left shoulder pain approximately 48 days later, on December 10, 2019, during a follow-up with her primary care physician, Dr.

Soberon. She was assessed with bursitis of the left shoulder, and a steroid injection was administered.

She continued to experience left arm and shoulder pain and was referred to an orthopedist. On February 3, 2020, she saw orthopedist Dr.

Thorpe, complaining of left shoulder pain for about three to four months. X-rays revealed advanced glenohumeral joint arthritis and a subacromial spur.

Dr. Thorpe administered another steroid injection and ordered an MRI, but a CT scan and arthrogram showed a subtotal/total tear of the supraspinatus tendon insertion, subscapularis tendinosis, and severe glenohumeral osteoarthritis.

Dr. Thorpe discussed potential surgical options, including total shoulder replacement, which he did not recommend, and provided exercises.

The record from this visit on March 10, 2020, did not indicate that Petitioner reported shoulder pain or other symptoms. Petitioner did not mention left shoulder problems during subsequent medical visits for other conditions between March 2020 and January 2021.

On February 1, 2021, she returned to Dr. Soberon stating she would like to return to an orthopedist for left arm pain.

On March 4, 2021, she saw Dr. Thorpe, who noted that a steroid injection from February 2020 had lasted until then but also stated she had been "overdoing it because of this storm clean up." He administered another steroid injection.

She returned to Dr. Thorpe on October 5, 2021, for left shoulder pain, and again received steroid injections.

In January 2022, she saw orthopedist Dr. Shawn Figari for left shoulder pain, and subsequently underwent left shoulder surgery on March 8, 2022.

Petitioner argued that her injury lasted longer than six months and that a gap in treatment did not negate the connection to the vaccine injury. She also disputed the claim that storm cleanup caused her pain in March 2021, citing weather reports.

Respondent argued that Petitioner failed to establish the injury lasted more than six months, noting that she did not seek care for her shoulder for approximately eleven months after February 2020, and when she did, she attributed the pain to overuse, not the vaccine. Respondent also raised arguments regarding SIRVA criteria, specifically the onset time and pre-existing osteoarthritis.

Chief Special Master Corcoran found that Petitioner had not established by a preponderance of the evidence that she experienced residual effects of her injury for more than six months, thus failing to satisfy the statutory severity requirement. The Special Master noted that the last documented symptom of shoulder pain related to the vaccination was in February 2020, less than four months after the injection.

The subsequent shoulder pain reported in February 2021 was attributed by Dr. Thorpe to storm cleanup, and the Special Master found this explanation more persuasive than Petitioner's counterarguments.

The Special Master concluded that the February 2020 steroid injection likely resolved Petitioner's injury and that the pain in 2021 was unrelated to the vaccine injury. Because the severity requirement was not met, the claim was dismissed for insufficient evidence.

The public decision was issued on May 30, 2024.