Evelyn Gonzalez v. HHS - Meningococcal, right shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) (2024)

Evelyn Gonzalez, an 18-year-old, filed a petition for compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program on February 26, 2021, alleging that a meningococcal conjugate vaccine administered on July 30, 2019, caused a right shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA). Ms.

Gonzalez claimed immediate and persistent pain following the vaccination, which worsened as she began playing college volleyball. She sought treatment and was diagnosed with SIRVA, bursitis, and tendinopathy.

The case proceeded as a Table claim, with the central issue being whether her injury met the Vaccine Act's severity requirement of lasting more than six months. Respondent argued that medical records from November 2019 indicated Ms.

Gonzalez had returned to normal activity and had no complaints of shoulder pain, and that there was a significant gap in treatment until September 2020. Respondent further contended that renewed pain in September 2020 was likely due to a new athletic injury sustained while serving a volleyball.

The Chief Special Master agreed, finding that Ms. Gonzalez's shoulder pain appeared to have resolved by August 2019 and that the subsequent pain was likely due to an athletic injury, thus failing to meet the six-month severity requirement.

Ms. Gonzalez sought review of this decision, arguing that the Chief Special Master failed to consider all evidence, including her affidavit and an expert's opinion.

The reviewing court affirmed the dismissal, finding the Chief Special Master's decision was not arbitrary and capricious, as he had considered the relevant evidence and rationally concluded that the injury did not meet the six-month severity requirement. The court noted that while Ms.

Gonzalez claimed continued pain and sought treatment for other ailments, the contemporaneous medical records, particularly those from athletic trainers indicating a return to normal activity and a subsequent athletic injury, carried more weight. The court found that the evidence did not preponderate in favor of a finding that the SIRVA injury continued for more than six months.