VICP Registry Case Source Bundle
Canonical URL: https://vicp-registry.org/case/USCOURTS-cofc-1_21-vv-01893
Package ID: USCOURTS-cofc-1_21-vv-01893
Petitioner: ROSEMARY HARVILLE
Filed: 2021-09-23
Decided: 2024-10-18
Vaccine: influenza
Vaccination date: 2018-09-27
Condition: Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration (SIRVA)
Outcome: dismissed
Award amount USD: 

AI-assisted case summary:
Rosemary Harville filed a petition alleging that an influenza vaccination she received on September 27, 2018, caused a Table Injury of Guillain-Barré syndrome, and later amended her petition to allege a Table Injury of Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration (SIRVA). She submitted medical records and a neurologist's report. Respondent filed a Rule 4 report recommending against compensation and later responsive reports from a rheumatologist and a neurologist. The Special Master issued a preliminary evaluation noting that the petitioner's proffered medical opinion was limited to supporting a Table SIRVA claim but that she was unlikely to meet the required criteria, specifically regarding the localization of symptoms to the vaccination shoulder and the absence of other explanatory conditions. The Special Master recommended that the petitioner consider voluntarily dismissing her claim, suggesting she would likely need to provide new expert opinions to prove causation-in-fact if she intended to proceed. Subsequently, the petitioner filed a joint stipulation of dismissal. The case was dismissed without prejudice.

Theory of causation field:
Table

Public staged source text:

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DOCUMENT 1: USCOURTS-cofc-1_21-vv-01893-0
Date issued/filed: 2024-10-18
Pages: 2
Docket text: PUBLIC ORDER/RULING (Originally filed: 9/23/2024) regarding 49 Order Concluding Proceedings. Signed by Special Master Daniel T. Horner. (ksb) Service on parties made.
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Case 1:21-vv-01893-UNJ Document 52 Filed 10/18/24 Page 1 of 2
In the United States Court of Federal Claims
OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS
No. 21-1893V
Filed: September 23, 2024
Special Master Horner
ROSEMARY HARVILLE,
Petitioner,
v.
SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES,
Respondent.
Phillip S. Georges, Phillip S. Georges, PLLC, Nashville, TN, for petitioner.
Lynn Christina Schlie, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for respondent.
ORDER CONCLUDING PROCEEDINGS1
On September 23, 2021, petitioner filed a filed a petition for compensation under
the National Vaccine Injury Act, 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-10, et seq. (2012), alleging that she
suffered a Table Injury of Guillain-Barré syndrome as a result of an influenza (“flu”)
vaccination she received on September 27, 2018. (ECF No. 1.) She subsequently filed
an amended petition alleging that she suffered a Table Injury of Shoulder Injury Related
to Vaccine Administration (“SIRVA”) as a result of her September 27, 2018 flu
vaccination. (ECF No. 24.)
Between September of 2021 and May of 2023, petitioner filed medical records
and an affidavit by petitioner. (ECF Nos. 1, 14, 22, 24.) Petitioner also filed a report by
neurologist Christopher D. Lee, M.D. (ECF No. 14; Ex. 5.) On July 20, 2023,
respondent filed his Rule 4 report, recommending against compensation. (ECF No. 27.)
In the spring of 2024, respondent filed responsive reports by rheumatologist Roland
Staud, M.D., and neurologist Kourosh Rezania, M.D. (ECF Nos. 36, 39, 41; Exs. A-D.)
1 Because this document contains a reasoned explanation for the action taken in this case, it must be
made publicly accessible and will be posted on the United States Court of Federal Claims' website, and/or
at https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/uscourts/national/cofc, in accordance with the E-Government
Act of 2002. 44 U.S.C. § 3501 note (2018) (Federal Management and Promotion of Electronic
Government Services). This means the document will be available to anyone with access to the
internet. In accordance with Vaccine Rule 18(b), Petitioner has 14 days to identify and move to redact
medical or other information, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy.
If, upon review, I agree that the identified material fits within this definition, I will redact such material from
public access.
1

Case 1:21-vv-01893-UNJ Document 52 Filed 10/18/24 Page 2 of 2
On April 16, 2024, I filed a Rule 5 Order, discussing my preliminary evaluation of
the record evidence and stating my tentative conclusions with regards to petitioner’s
likelihood to succeed. (ECF No. 40.) I noted that petitioner’s proffered medical opinion
was limited to supporting a Table SIRVA claim, which is subject to four Qualifications
and Aids to Interpretation (“QAI”) criteria. (Id. at 2.) However, I noted that petitioner
was unlikely to demonstrate that her pain and reduced range of motion were limited to
the shoulder in which she received her vaccination or that there is no other condition or
abnormality would explain her symptoms, as required by the QAI. (Id. at 2-3.)
Accordingly, I recommended “that petitioner give strong consideration to voluntarily
dismissing her claim” as she “has little to no possibility of prevailing as her claim is
currently couched.” (Id. at 3.) I explained that, if petitioner intended to proceed with her
claim, then she would likely need to provide an expert orthopedic and/or rheumatologic
opinion sufficient to prove causation-in-fact and to persuasively counter Dr. Staud’s
opinion on respondent’s behalf. (Id. at 3-4.)
On September 23, 2024, petitioner filed a joint stipulation of dismissal pursuant to
Vaccine Rule 21(a).2 (ECF No. 47.) Accordingly, pursuant to Vaccine Rule 21(a), this
case is hereby dismissed without prejudice. The Clerk of the Court is hereby
instructed that a judgment shall not enter in the instant case pursuant to Vaccine Rule
21(a).
IT IS SO ORDERED.
s/Daniel T. Horner
Daniel T. Horner
Special Master
2 The stipulation was incorrectly filed as a motion; however, the document itself is a joint stipulation of
dismissal.
2