Salceda v. Secretary of Department of Health & Human Services

30 Fed. Cl. 316, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 8, 1994 WL 14597
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJanuary 6, 1994
DocketNo. 90-1304V
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 30 Fed. Cl. 316 (Salceda v. Secretary of Department of Health & Human Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Salceda v. Secretary of Department of Health & Human Services, 30 Fed. Cl. 316, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 8, 1994 WL 14597 (uscfc 1994).

Opinion

ORDER

ANDEWELT, Judge.

I.

In this action, petitioner, Berta Salceda, seeks compensation under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, 42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa-10 to -34 (the Vaccine Act), for injuries allegedly suffered by her daughter, Maria Isabel Salceda (Maria), as a result of a DPT (diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus) vaccination administered in July of 1982 and a DT vaccination administered on October 7, 1982. In a July 15, 1993, decision on remand, the special master dismissed the petition with prejudice on the ground that the filing of the petition was barred by Section 11(a)(5)(B) of the Vaccine Act. Section 11(a)(5)(B) provides: “If a plaintiff has pending a civil action for damages for a vaccine-related injury or death, such person may not file a petition under subsection (b) of this section [seeking compensation] for such injury or death.” The “pending ... civil action” upon which the special master relied in dismissing the petition was a California Superi- or Court action filed against Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. (Kaiser) and others. The California complaint listed as plaintiffs Maria’s parents, Berta and Elias Salceda, each suing for their own personal damages, and Maria suing “by and through her Guardian Ad Litem, Elias Salceda.”

Kaiser, a health maintenance organization, had administered the DPT and DT vaccines to Maria and, in addition, had provided care to Maria following her apparent reaction to the vaccines. Although the California action originally attacked both Kaiser’s administration of the vaccines and its post-vaccination care, the claim based on the administration of the vaccines was dismissed prior to the filing of the instant petition. In her decision on remand, the special master concluded that the Section 11(a)(5)(B) bar nevertheless ap-. plies to the instant petition. The special master cited Matos v. Secretary, HHS, No. 90-690V, 1993 WL 160033 (Ct.Fed.Cl. May 4, [318]*3181993), for the proposition that injuries that result from a failure to treat properly “vaccine-related injur[ies]” themselves constitute “vaccine-related injuries]” and, therefore, an action attacking only medical care subsequent to vaccine administration can constitute a disqualifying suit under Section 11(a)(5)(B).

II.

Subsequent to the special master’s decision on remand, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in Schumacher v. Secretary, HHS, 2 F.3d 1128 (Fed.Cir.1993), interpreted Section 11(a)(5)(B) in a manner inconsistent with Matos. In Schumacher, the Federal Circuit recognized that there was no specific statement in Section 11(a)(5)(B) to the effect that the bar contained therein applies only where the “pending ... civil action for damages” is brought against a certain class of defendants. After reviewing the other provisions of the Vaccine Act and the pertinent legislative history, however, the court interpreted Section 11(a)(5)(B) to bar the filing of a petition under the Vaccine Act only when the pending civil action for vaccine-related injuries is an action against either the vaccine administrator or the vaccine manufacturer. Id. at 1134. In Matos, the pending civil action held to preclude the filing of a Vaccine Act petition was not brought against the manufacturer or administrator of the vaccine but rather against a health provider involved exclusively in the post-vaccination care of the vaccine recipient.

By rendering Matos unsound precedent, Schumacher eroded the precedential underpinning of the special master’s decision on remand in this action. A rejection of the Matos decision, however, is not necessarily determinative of the instant action. In this action, like Matos, the “pending ... civil action” under scrutiny involves post-vaccination care. But herein, unlike Matos, the entity sued for improper post-vaccination care happened to be the same entity that administered the vaccines. The question therefore becomes whether the Section 11(a)(5)(B) bar, which Schumacher interpreted to apply only when the pending suit for vaccine-related injuries is brought against the vaccine administrator or manufacturer, applies only when the pending suit is brought against the administrator or manufacturer for actions taken in its capacity as such. Or, in the alternative, does the bar also apply when the allegations in the pending suit are brought against such an entity for actions taken in a capacity other than that of administrator or manufacturer, such as the providing of post-vaccination patient care.

Respondent argues that the Section 11(a)(5)(B) bar applies whenever the pending civil action for vaccine-related injuries is against the entity that administered or manufactured the vaccine, even when the action does not challenge the administration or manufacture of the vaccine. Thus, in effect, respondent takes the position that Congress intended suits for negligent post-vaccination care brought against the administrator or manufacturer of a vaccine to be treated differently than similar negligence suits brought against other health care providers. But respondent has not presented a convincing reason why Congress would have chosen to create such apparent asymmetry in the law. Respondent contends that in so doing, Congress wanted to encourage resort to the Vaccine Act first, rather than to traditional tort litigation. But if Congress wanted to postpone tort litigation with respect to alleged negligence in post-vaccination care until after a determination of compensation is made under the Vaccine Act, it is not apparent why Congress would not have postponed such suits uniformly, without excepting suits against health care providers that were neither the manufacturer nor administrator of the vaccine.

To determine whether Congress intended to create such apparent asymmetry in the law, a detailed analysis would seem necessary of the related provisions of the Vaccine Act and the pertinent legislative history, similar to the analysis carried out in Schumacher.1 Neither party, however, has presented [319]*319such an analysis. Moreover, the special master did not have an opportunity to offer her expertise on this issue because it was not until after the special master had issued her decision on remand that the Schumacher court held that Section 11(a)(5)(B) applies only when a suit is brought against the vaccine administrator or manufacturer. Without appropriate additional input from the parties and the special master, this court is hesitant to reach any final conclusions as to the proper interpretation of Section 11(a)(5)(B). Therefore, the court will remand this action for consideration of this issue by the special master.

III.

Respondent argues before this court that even if dismissal were not warranted under Section 11(a)(5)(B), dismissal would be warranted under Section 11(a)(6). Section 11(a)(6) provides: “If a person brings a civil action after November 15, 1988, for damages for a vaccine-related injury or death associated with the administration of a vaccine before November 15, 1988, such person may not file a petition under subsection (b) of this section [seeking compensation] for such injury or death.” The special master did not consider Section 11(a)(6) in her decision on remand.

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30 Fed. Cl. 316, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 8, 1994 WL 14597, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/salceda-v-secretary-of-department-of-health-human-services-uscfc-1994.