1



# In the United States Court of Federal Claims

OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS

No. 1 3

- 813 V

Filed: October 2 9 , 2014

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * UNPUBLISHED

T RACY FOX

, *

* Special Master Gowen

Petitioner, *

* Joint Stipulation on Damages;

v. * Influenza (“Flu”) Vaccine;

* R ight A rm and S houlder I njuries ;

SECRETARY OF HEALTH *

AND HUMAN SERVICES, *

*

Respondent. *

*

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

L awrence R. Cohan

, Anapol, Schwartz, Weis s & Smalley, P.C.

, P hiladelphia

, PA

, for petitioner

. J ulia W. McInerny

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

DECISION ON JOINT STIPULATION 1

On October 18, 2013

, T racy Fox (“ petitioner ”) filed a petition pursuant to the National

Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

. 2 42 U .S.C. §§ 300aa

- 1 to

- 34 (2006). Petitioner alleged

that , as a result of receiving an i nfluenza (“ f lu”) v accine on S eptember 1 2

, 2 012

, she s uffered

injuries to her right arm and shoulder

. Stipulation ¶ 2, 4, filed Oct

. 2 7 , 2014

. Further, petitioner

alleged that she experienced residual effects of her injury for more than s ix months. Id. at ¶ 4.

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

the undersigned intends t o 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.2

On October 2 7 , 2014 , the parties filed a stipulatio n in which they state that a decision

should b e entered awarding compensation. Respondent denies that the flu vaccination caused

petitioner’s r ight arm and shoulder injuries

. 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 also stipulate to an award of attorneys’ fees and costs in the joint stipulation

filed on October 2 7 , 2014. The parties agree to a total award of attorneys’ fees and costs in the

amount of $ 1 5,373.47 . In accordance with General Order #9, petitioner represents that she did

not personally incur costs related to this proceeding

. Id. at ¶ 8(b). The undersigned finds the

stipulation for fees and costs reasonable and adopts it as the decision of the Court.

The parties stipulate that petitioner shall receive the following compensation:

A lump sum of $ 8 5,000.00

, in the form of a check payable to petitioner

, T racy Fox

. This amount represents compensation for all damages that would be availabl e

under 42 U.S.C. § 300aa

- 15(a )

.

A lump sum of $ 1 5,373.47 , in the form of a check jointly payable to petitioner and to

petitioner’s attorney, L awrence R. Cohan , pursuant to 42 U.S.C . § 300 aa

- 15(e) , for

attorneys’ fees and costs

.

Id. at ¶ 8.

The undersigned approves the requested amount for petitioner ’s compensation and

attorneys’ fees and costs. Accordingly, t he clerk of the court SHALL ENTER JUDGMENT in

accordance with the terms of the parties’ stipulation. 3

IT IS SO ORDERED.

s/ Thomas L. Gowen

Thomas L. Gowen

Special Master

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

notice renouncing the right to seek review.