Vaccine Injury Lawyers for Claims Nationwide

Could You Have a Vaccine Injury Claim?

Vaccine injury claims can involve shoulder damage, nerve injuries, neurological conditions, allergic reactions, and other serious medical problems. The diagnosis matters, but so do the covered vaccine, the onset of symptoms, prior medical history, treatment, duration, and possible alternative causes.

SIRVA and Shoulder Injuries

Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration, or SIRVA, involves shoulder pain and limited range of motion beginning after an injection in the upper arm. It is different from ordinary soreness that improves shortly after vaccination.

A potential SIRVA claim may involve continuing pain, difficulty lifting the arm, interrupted sleep, physical therapy, injections, surgery, or diagnoses such as bursitis, frozen shoulder, tendonitis, or a rotator cuff injury. The vaccination record, onset of pain, prior shoulder history, early treatment notes, and duration of symptoms can all affect the legal analysis. SIRVA is included on the current Vaccine Injury Table, but a claim must satisfy the applicable vaccine, timing, clinical, and definition requirements to receive the Table's presumption of causation.

Neurological and Other Vaccine Injuries

Our firm also evaluates claims involving Guillain-Barre syndrome, brachial neuritis, transverse myelitis, ADEM, CIDP, MOGAD, Bell's palsy, encephalitis or encephalopathy, complex regional pain syndrome, anaphylaxis, immune thrombocytopenic purpura, intussusception, vasovagal syncope, and other medically documented conditions.

A condition is not considered vaccine-related merely because it began after vaccination. Some claims may qualify for a Table presumption; others require affirmative medical evidence of causation.

VICP Filing Deadlines

For an injury, a VICP petition generally must be filed within three years after the first symptom or manifestation of onset or significant aggravation. A later diagnosis ordinarily does not restart the filing period.

Death claims use a different two-part deadline: within 2 years of the death and no later than 4 years after the first symptom of the injury that led to the death. Because these deadlines can be complicated and are strictly enforced, individuals who believe they may have a claim should seek legal advice as soon as possible.

The first legally relevant symptom is not always obvious from memory alone. Medical records may document an earlier complaint or describe the onset differently, so seek case-specific advice well before the apparent deadline.

Read the VICP filing deadline guide

How a Vaccine Injury Lawyer Can Help

The VICP is a federal no-fault program. Claims are filed against the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, not as ordinary negligence lawsuits against the doctor, pharmacy, or other vaccine administrator.

If My Vaccine Lawyer accepts a claim, the team can:

• Confirm the applicable program, covered vaccine, apparent deadline, and severity issue
• Obtain and organize vaccination and medical records
• Develop the medical chronology and Table or off-Table theory
• Coordinate qualified medical experts when needed
• Prepare the petition and respond to the government's position
• Document qualifying losses and pursue an appropriate resolution

No lawyer can guarantee compensation. Experienced representation helps ensure that the claim is evaluated under the correct law and presented with the support the evidence allows.

VICP Compensation and Attorney Fees

Depending on the evidence, compensation may include qualifying unreimbursed medical and rehabilitation expenses, projected future care, lost earnings or impaired earning capacity, and pain and suffering subject to the federal cap. The statute also provides a death benefit when its requirements are met. There is no dependable average value for an individual claim.

My Vaccine Lawyer offers a free initial case evaluation. The VICP pays our attorney's fees directly, separate from your award, and by law we can't charge you any other fee. Reasonable attorneys' fees and costs are sought separately under the Vaccine Act and remain subject to court approval and the terms of the engagement agreement.

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Table Injuries and Off-Table Injuries

Table Injuries

The Vaccine Injury Table pairs covered vaccine categories with defined injuries and onset periods. If the vaccine, injury, first-symptom window, and all applicable Qualifications and Aids to Interpretation are satisfied, the law presumes causation unless another cause is shown.

Examples from the current Table include:

• SIRVA beginning within 48 hours after specified vaccines administered by injection, subject to the Table's full definition
• Guillain-Barré syndrome beginning 3 to 42 days after a seasonal influenza vaccine
• Brachial neuritis beginning 2 to 28 days after a vaccine containing tetanus toxoid
• Anaphylaxis beginning within four hours after several listed vaccine categories
• Thrombocytopenic purpura beginning 7 to 30 days after specified measles-containing vaccines
• Intussusception beginning 1 to 21 days after a rotavirus vaccine, subject to the Table's exclusions

These examples are abbreviated. Meeting an onset period by itself does not establish a Table injury. The medical facts must also satisfy the federal definition.

Vaccine Injury Case Results and Examples

The following published MVL results show how different records and legal questions can matter. They do not predict the value or outcome of another case, and a settlement does not necessarily establish that a vaccine caused the claimed injury.

Seasonal Flu Vaccine and Guillain-Barré Syndrome

MVL reports a $162,500 settlement for a client whose numbness and tingling began about three weeks after a flu shot, led to hospitalization and a GBS diagnosis, and continued for about a year. In a similar claim, the review would address the covered vaccine, the Table's 3-to-42-day onset period, the diagnosis, severity, treatment course, and evidence of other possible causes.

Tetanus Vaccine and Shoulder Injury

MVL reports a $111,390 settlement involving adhesive capsulitis and shoulder tendonitis after a tetanus shot. The published summary notes MRI findings and a surgical recommendation. A similar shoulder claim would be evaluated through the first symptom, injection side and site, prior shoulder history, examination and imaging findings, treatment, duration, and the complete SIRVA definition.

HPV Vaccine and Transverse Myelitis

MVL reports a $140,000 settlement involving a child who developed leg weakness about two weeks after an HPV vaccination, was admitted to the emergency room, received a transverse myelitis diagnosis, and continued to have weakness after treatment. Because transverse myelitis is not a listed Table injury for HPV vaccines, a similar claim would require an off-Table review of medical theory, sequence of cause and effect, timing, records, and alternative explanations.

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