Nabila Gebran v. HHS - Td/Tetanus, left shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) (2023)

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.