Nabila Gebran v. HHS - Td, left shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) (2023)
Case summary [AI summaries can sometimes make mistakes]
Nabila Gebran, a 63-year-old woman, filed a petition on August 28, 2021, alleging she suffered a left shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) after receiving a tetanus diphtheria (Td) vaccine on November 8, 2018. She claimed the injury was a Table injury or, alternatively, a causation-in-fact injury.
Ms. Gebran initially experienced cellulitis at the injection site within a week of vaccination, which resolved within approximately one month.
She did not seek treatment for left shoulder pain until September 23, 2019, more than ten months after vaccination, attributing it to the Td vaccine. The respondent argued that the cellulitis resolved within a month and that the later shoulder pain was not vaccine-caused, pointing to alternative causes and a lack of the required six months of severity.
The court noted Ms. Gebran's pre-existing conditions, including hypertension, congestive heart failure, cervical dystonia, myalgias, osteopenia, osteoarthritis, vertigo, and dizziness, which required medical attention during the period she claimed shoulder pain.
Medical records did not support her assertion of immediate SIRVA symptoms or continuous pain for over six months. The court found that her later shoulder pain was more likely due to unrelated conditions, such as polymyalgia rheumatica, and that she failed to provide preponderant evidence linking the September 2019 symptoms to the November 2018 vaccination or demonstrating the required six-month severity.
The public decision does not describe the specific onset of symptoms, diagnostic tests performed for the shoulder pain, or the specific treatments for the shoulder pain. Petitioner counsel was Jimmy A.
Zgheib. Respondent counsel was Jamica Marie Littles.
The Special Master was Chief Special Master Brian H. Corcoran.
The case was dismissed for failure to prosecute, as Ms. Gebran did not establish entitlement under the Vaccine Act.
Theory of causation
Petitioner Nabila Gebran, age 63, received a Td vaccine on November 8, 2018. She alleged a left shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA), either a Table injury or causation-in-fact. She experienced cellulitis at the injection site within a week, which resolved within one month. She sought treatment for left shoulder pain over ten months later, in September 2019, claiming it began in May 2019. The Special Master, Brian H. Corcoran, denied entitlement. The decision noted the absence of contemporaneous medical records supporting immediate SIRVA symptoms or continuous pain for over six months post-vaccination. Petitioner's shoulder pain in September 2019 was attributed by her PCP to localized tendonitis and later diagnosed as polymyalgia rheumatica, affecting her shoulders and hips, which the Special Master found to be unrelated to the vaccination. Petitioner failed to provide preponderant evidence of a vaccine-related injury lasting more than six months or linking the later shoulder pain to the Td vaccine. The case was dismissed for failure to prosecute. Petitioner counsel: Jimmy A. Zgheib. Respondent counsel: Jamica Marie Littles. Decision Date: September 28, 2023.
Source PDFs
USCOURTS-cofc-1_21-vv-00810