Update on Proposed SIRVA Rule Changes

As you may have read previously, on July 20, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to amend the Vaccine Injury Table by removing Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration (“SIRVA”), vasovagal syncope, and the new vaccines category, Item XVII. This proposed Rule change would have had a very debilitating effect on an individual’s ability to bring a claim for compensation should he/she have suffered a shoulder injury as a result of receiving the flu shot or any of the other covered vaccines. It also would have caused increased lawsuits against doctors, nurses, pharmacies, and other providers who vaccinate the public. As such, our firm and other law firms submitted a number of Public Comments on the Proposed Rule Change and encouraged our clients to do the same.

Although a Final Rule amending the Table was published on January 21, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services delayed the effective date of the Final Rule until April 23, 2021, in order to allow President Biden’s incoming administration an opportunity to review the rule prior to it going into effect.

We are happy to report that on March 17, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to rescind the January 21, 2021 Final Rule. As such, effective April 22, 2021, the January 21, 2021 Final Rule removing SIRVA, vasovagal syncope, and the new vaccines category (Item XVII) from the Table has been withdrawn, and these items remain on the Vaccine Injury Table. 

As such, shoulder injury claims are still being filed and processed under the VICP (“Vaccine Injury Compensation Program”). If you or someone you know sustained an injury or started experiencing shoulder symptoms after receiving a vaccination, please contact our law firm as you may be entitled to compensation.  Our firm is experienced in litigating vaccine injury claims on behalf of those suffering shoulder injuries.