Opinion ID: 628329
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: State Statutes of Limitation

Text: 35 Finally, the Vaccine Act provision regarding state limitations of actions (Sec. 300aa-16(c)) confirms this analysis for two reasons. First, that subsection discusses the timing of the tolling of state civil actions for vaccine-related injury or death only in terms of Sec. 300aa-21(a), which provision, as shown above, applies only to civil actions against a vaccine administrator or manufacturer: 36 If a petition is filed under section 300aa-11 of this title for a vaccine-related injury or death, limitations of actions under State law shall be stayed with respect to a civil action brought for such injury or death for the period beginning on the date the petition is filed and ending on the date (1) an election is made under section 300aa-21(a) of this title to file the civil action, (2) an election is made under section 300aa-21(b) of this title to withdraw the petition, or (3) the petition is considered withdrawn under section 300aa-21(b) of this title. 37 Sec. 300aa-16(c). 38 If Congress intended the tolling provision to apply to civil actions against parties other than vaccine administrators or manufacturers, the subsection would not end the tolling only when the petitioner made the election under Sec. 300aa-21(a) to file a civil action or withdrew the petition. As conceded by the Secretary, because Sec. 300aa-21(a) only restricts a petitioner who accepts a compensation award from bringing a civil action against a vaccine administrator or manufacturer, a person may always file a vaccine-related civil action against a party other than a vaccine administrator or manufacturer after judgment has been entered on a petition, even if compensation has been awarded and accepted (under Sec. 300aa-21(a)). The Secretary construes the statute, however, to provide that a person must bring the petition under the Program first, and must wait until final judgment is entered on the petition before filing such a civil action if that person wishes to pursue compensation under the Program at all. Therefore, in order to apply Sec. 300aa-16(c) to such non-administrator and non-manufacturer civil actions, Congress would have had to include a provision in that subsection for ending the tolling for such suits at the time the final judgment on the petition was entered, even if the petitioner elected to receive awarded compensation. Congress did not do this. 39 Consequently, under the Secretary's interpretation of the statute, a person may never be able to bring such a civil action. Under that analysis, a person may not bring the civil action before final judgment has been entered on the petition, which, with motions for review to the Claims Court and appeals to our court, may take several years; but if the person waited until that time, there is a good chance that the state limitation on the tort action would have run. Surely, Congress did not intend such a bar to any non-administrator/non-manufacturer civil action. Indeed, as discussed above, the Secretary concedes that such a suit may be brought; the Secretary only asserts that the timing of such a suit is dictated by Sec. 300aa-11(a)(5)(B). However, as shown here, Sec. 300aa-16(c) renders such an interpretation of Sec. 300aa-11(a)(5)(B) implausible. 40 Second, by its own terms, Sec. 300aa-16(c) only tolls state civil actions for vaccine-related injury or death. Therefore, any non-vaccine-related issues in a civil action, like the Schumachers' claim in the Merrell Dow suit that Bentyl, by itself, injured Donald and predisposed him to other injury, would not be tolled. Thus, even if, as the Secretary argues, a person were barred from bringing civil actions for vaccine-related injury or death until after judgment is entered on a petition, a civil action that included separate claims that were not even arguably vaccine-related, as in the Merrell Dow suit, would be precluded if claimed as alternatives in a suit with arguably vaccine-related claims. In order to avoid having his or her claims barred, a person would have to decide what claims were non-vaccine-related and bring the suit on those claims within the state limitations time period. Then, if the vaccine-related claims were not barred by res judicata (which would normally bar claims involving the same parties and facts that could have been brought in the first suit) by reason of such claims being stayed by the Vaccine Act until completion of compensation proceedings, the person would have to bring a second civil action on those claims after final judgment was entered on the petition. 41 In other words, if the Schumachers had followed this road map that is the logical result of the Secretary's argument, they would have had to: 42 (1) File a civil action in state court (or federal district court if any federal or diversity jurisdiction arises under the claims) against Merrell Dow on all claims that do not implicate the vaccine (and this presumes that they would know which claims would never be interpreted by any party or court as implicating the vaccine) before the state statute of limitations runs on those claims. 43 (2) File a petition for compensation under the Program in the United States Court of Federal Claims within the Vaccine Act's limitations period for such a petition. 44 (3) After the compensation proceedings are completed, whether or not compensation was awarded, file a second separate civil action in state (or federal district court, see (1) above) against Merrell Dow on any vaccine-related claims. 45 Thus, under the Secretary's interpretation, the Vaccine Act would produce the absurd result of possibly requiring (and certainly allowing), in addition to the compensation proceeding, two separate suits (quite possibly resulting in two completely separate trials in front of two different judges) against a party other than a vaccine administrator or manufacturer on the same facts for different claims. Congress will not be deemed to have intended absurd results, particularly absent clear expression to the contrary, which is not found here.