1



# In the United States Court of Federal Claims

OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS

No. 1 1

- 876 V

Filed: O ctober 13 , 2015

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * UNPUBLISHED

F RIEDA LAUBER

, parent of O.K., a minor, *

* Special Master Gowen

Petitioner, *

* Joint Stipulation on Damages;

v. * M eningococcal C onjugate vaccine ;

* D iphtheria

- T etanus

- a cellular

SECRETARY OF HEALTH * Pertussis v accine.

AND HUMAN SERVICES, *

*

Respondent. *

*

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

R onald C. Homer

, C onway, Homer & Chin

- Caplan, P.C.

, B oston

, MA

, for petitioner

. L ara A. Englund

, United States Department of Justice, Washington , DC, for respondent.

DECISION ON JOINT STIPULATION 1

On D ecember 14, 2011

, F rieda Lauber (“ petitioner ”) filed a petition on behalf of her minor

daughter, O.K., pursuant to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

. 2 42 U .S.C. §§

300aa

- 1 to

- 34 (20 12 ). Petitioner alleged that as a result of receiving diphtheria

- tetanus

- acellular

pertussis (“ D tap ”) 3 , and meningococcal conjugate vaccines on or about J a nuary 12, 2009

, O .K.

1 Because this decision contains a reasoned explanation for the undersigned’s action in this case,

the undersigned intends to post this ruling on the website of the United States Court of Federal

Claims , in accordance with the E

- Government Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107

- 347, § 205, 116 Stat.

2899, 2913 (codified as amended at 44 U.S.C. § 3501 note (2006)). As provided by Vaccine Rule

18(b), each party has 14 days within which to request redaction “of any information furnished by

that party: (1) that is a trade secret or commercial or financial in substance and is privileged or

confidential; or (2) that includes medical files or similar files, the disclosure of which would

constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy.” Vaccine Rule 18(b).

2 The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program is set forth in Part 2 of the National

Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, Pub. L. No. 99

- 660, 100 Stat. 3755, codified as amended,

42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa

- 1 to

- 34 (2006) (Vaccine Act or the Act). All citati ons in this decision to

individual sections of the Vaccine Act are to 42 U.S.C.A. § 300aa.

3 The medical records indicate that O.K. received a Tetanus

- Diphtheria

- acellular Pertussis

( “ Tdap ” ) vaccination

, n ot a Dtap vaccination as alleged

. Nevertheless, b oth vaccines are covered

in this Program.2

d eveloped acute disseminated encephalomyelitis ( “ ADEM ” ) and multiple sclerosis ( “ MS ” )

. Stipulation ¶ 2, 4, docket no. 75, filed O ct. 13 , 2015

. Further, petitioner alleged that O .K.

experienced residual effects of her injury for more than six months. Id. at ¶ 4.

On O ctober 13

, 2015, the parties filed a stipulatio n in which they state that a decision

should b e entered awarding compensation. Respondent denies that the v accines caused O .K. ’ s

A DEM, MS

, or any other injury , or her current condition

. Id. at ¶ 6. Nevertheless, the parties

agree to the joint stipulation, attached hereto as Appendix A

. The undersigned finds the stipulation

reasonable and adopts it as the decision of the Court in awarding damages, on the terms set forth

therein.

The parties stipulate that petitioner shall receive the following compensation:

A lump sum of $ 2 10 ,000 .00

, in the form of a check payable to O livia Kerwin on or

after December 26, 2015 . This amount represents compensation for all damages that

would be availabl e under 42 U.S.C. § 300aa

- 15(a)

.

Id. at ¶ 8.

The undersigned approves the requested amo unt for petitioner ’s compensation.

Accordingly, an award should be made consistent with the stipulation.

T he clerk of the court SHALL ENTER JUDGMENT in accordance with the terms of

the parties’ stipulation. 4

IT IS SO ORDERED.

s/ Thomas L. Gowen

Thomas L. Gowen

Special Master

4 Pursuant to Vaccine Rule 11(a), entry of judgment is expedited by the parties’ joint filing of

notice renouncing the right to seek review.