# In the United States Court of Federal Claims

O FFICE OF 

## S PECIAL 

## M ASTERS

No. 12

- 160 V

Filed: April 30 , 201 3

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

JUDITH MORGAN

, * NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

*

Petitioner

, * Special Master Zane

*

v. * Stipulation; influenza (flu) vaccine;

* Diptheria

- Tetanus (“DT”) vaccine;

SECRETARY OF HEALTH * brachial plexopathy ; attorneys’ fees

AND HUMAN SERVICES, * and costs

*

Respondent. *

*

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

Mark L. Krueger

, Krueger & Hernandez, S.C., Baraboo, WI , for Petitioner

Traci Patton , United States Dep’t of Justice, W ashington, DC , for Respondent

UNPUBLISHED DECISION 1

On April 30

, 201 3 , the parties in the above

- captioned case filed a Stipulation

memorializing their agreement as to the appropriate amount of compensation in this case.

Petitioner allege d that s he suffered from brachial plexopathy as a consequence of h er receipt of

the influenza (“flu”) vaccine or Diptheria

- Tetanus (“DT”) vaccine

, which are vaccine s contained

in the Vaccine Injury Table, 42 C.F.R § 100.3(a)

, and which s he r eceived on or about September

28 , 20 10

. Petitioner alleges that s he experienced the residual effects of this injury for more than

six months. Petitioner also represents that there have been no prior award s or settlement of a

1 Because this decision contains a reasoned explanation for the Special Master’s action in this

case, the Special Master intends to post it 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, 113 Stat. 2899,

2913 (Dec. 17, 2002). All decisions of the Special Master will be disclosed and made available

to the public unless they contain trade secret or commercial or financial information that is

privileged and confidential, or me dical and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute

a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy. When such a decision or designated subs tantive order

is filed, a party has 14 days to identify and to move to redact such information before the

document ’ s disclosure. If upon review of a timely

- filed motion to redact along with which a

proposed redacted decision is submitted, the Special Mast er agrees that the identified material

fits within the categories listed above, the Special Master shall redact such material from the

decision made available to the public. 42 U.S.C. § 300aa

- 12 (d) (4); Vaccine Rule 18 (b). In the

absence of a motion or should the Special Master disagree with the proposed redactions, the

decision shall be disclosed in its entirety.

1civil action for these damages . Petitioner seek s compensation related to h er injuries pu rsuant to

the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, 42 U.S.C. §300aa

- 10 to 34.

Respondent denie s that the flu vaccine or the DT vaccine caused Petitioner’s brachial

plexopathy or any other injury and denies that Petitioner’s current disabilities are sequelae o f h er

alleged vaccine

- related injury. Nonetheless, the parties have agreed informally to resolve this

matter. Stipulation, Appendix A hereto. The cou rt hereby ADOPTS the parties’ said

Stipulation, attached hereto as Appendix A, and awards compensation in the amount and on the

terms set forth therein.

B ecause Petitioner is being awarded compensation pursuant to this decision , Petitioner is

entitled t o an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. 42 U.S.C. § 300aa

- 15(e). In their

stipulation, the parties have agreed that an award of $16,000.00 in attorneys’ fees and costs

would be reasonable. Petitioner has represented that she personally has n ot incurred any

litigation costs. The undersigned finds that the amount requested is reasonable. In accordance

with 42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa

– 15(e), the undersigned awards the amount of attorneys’ fees and costs

to which Respondent has agreed.

S pecifically, Petitioner is awarded:

1) a lump sum of $ 70 ,000.00, in the form of a check payable to Petitioner

. This

amount represents compensation for all damages that would be available under 42

U.S.C. § 300aa

- 15(a) ; and

2) a lump sum of $ 16,000.00 in the form of a check payable jointly to petitioner and

petitioner’s attorney, Mark L. Krueger

, for attorneys ’ fees and costs awarded

pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa

- 15(e)

.

The C ourt thanks the parties for their cooperative efforts in resolving this matter. In the

absence of a motion for review filed pursuant to RCFC, Appendix B, the Clerk is directed to

enter judgment accordingly. 2

IT IS SO ORDERED.

s/Daria J. Zane

Daria J. Zane

Special Master

2 This document constitutes a final “decision” in this case pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 300aa

12(d)(3)(A). Unles s a motion for review of this decision is filed within 30 days, the Clerk of the

Court shall enter judgment in accordance with this decision. Pursuant to Vaccine Rule 11(a), the

parties can expedite entry of judgment by each party filing a notice renounci ng the right to seek

review by a United States Court of Federal Claims judge.

2