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

Inah Choe filed a claim alleging a shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) following an influenza vaccine received on October 7, 2019. She alleged that the injury resulted in pain and reduced range of motion in her right shoulder.

The respondent argued that Ms. Choe did not meet the Vaccine Act's severity requirement, as her injury did not persist for more than six months, and also contested that her condition met the Table criteria due to a history of shoulder pain and pain not being limited to the right shoulder.

The medical records indicated prior history of neck and shoulder pain, as well as other conditions. Following the vaccination, Ms.

Choe reported right shoulder pain and arm weakness starting approximately a week after the injection, with initial physical therapy showing improvement by December 2019. However, there was a nine-month gap in treatment records where shoulder pain was not mentioned, despite other medical appointments and reports of strenuous exercise.

The court found that Ms. Choe failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that her injury persisted for the required six months, noting that her symptoms had nearly resolved by the end of the initial three-month treatment period and that intervening factors might explain subsequent complaints.

Consequently, the claim was dismissed for failure to meet the severity requirement.