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

On April 22, 2021, Elaine Lambert, then 62, filed a petition alleging that an influenza vaccine administered in her left deltoid on October 31, 2020 caused a shoulder injury related to vaccine administration. The case did not settle, and respondent contested whether she met the six-month severity requirement.

Ms. Lambert's records showed prior left clavicle and neck complaints, but she had no active shoulder complaint at the time of vaccination.

Nineteen days later she sought care for left arm pain that she said began the day after the flu shot. Physical therapy records described pain ranging up to ten out of ten, difficulty sleeping, concern that more was wrong, and limited function.

A March 4, 2021 MRI showed mild supraspinatus tendinosis and mild acromioclavicular degenerative arthritis without active inflammation. A steroid injection in March improved her symptoms, but she returned after a treatment gap with chronic supraspinatus tendonitis and continued end-range pain.

Chief Special Master Brian H. Corcoran found that Ms.

Lambert proved a Table SIRVA and that the record satisfied the severity requirement despite the treatment gap and periods of improvement. On March 10, 2025, he awarded $80,000.00 for actual pain and suffering and $2,031.61 in unreimbursed expenses, for a total of $82,031.61.