Answered by Someone Who Has Practiced on Both Sides.
Jani Law PLLC can answer all of your questions about the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). Attorney Dhairya Jani spent years inside the Program in multiple roles: as a federal judicial law clerk at the Vaccine Court and as a lead DOJ Trial Attorney on more than 85 cases.
Every response to these common VICP questions reflects the Program as it actually operates.
The VICP covers injuries caused by vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for routine administration to children, pregnant women, or adults that are subject to the federal excise tax.
- If your injury appears on the Vaccine Injury Table with the right vaccine and onset window, causation is presumed by law.
- If it does not, an off-table claim requires proving causation through the VICP’s legal standard.
Either way, the VICP was designed to compensate individuals who have suffered a vaccine injury, and many conditions that do not appear on the Table have been compensated.
The only way to know whether your specific injury may be compensable is a careful evaluation of what happened, when it happened, and what your vaccination history shows. That is where the initial consultation at Jani Law PLLC starts.
The Vaccine Injury Table is a federal list of specific injuries paired with specific vaccines and onset windows. When your injury, vaccine, and timing match the Table criteria, causation is presumed by law. You do not need to prove the vaccine caused your injury.
SIRVA, Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration, occurs when a vaccine is improperly administered, depositing vaccine material into the shoulder joint or surrounding structures rather than the muscle where it belongs. It is a Table injury for intramuscular vaccines administered in the upper arm with an onset window of 48 hours.
If you developed significant shoulder pain within 48 hours of receiving an arm-administered vaccine and had no prior shoulder condition affecting that arm, your case warrants a Table injury evaluation. Where the vaccine was given, whether at a pharmacy, doctor’s office, or clinic, does not affect eligibility.
If the 48-hour window was missed, an off-table claim may still be available.
Possibly. The flu shot is one of the most common vaccines associated with compensable injuries in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
The most frequently compensated flu shot injuries are SIRVA and Guillain-Barré Syndrome, both of which are recognized Table injuries with specific onset windows.
If you developed significant shoulder pain after a flu shot, or experienced neurological symptoms in the weeks following vaccination, a careful evaluation of your specific facts is worth having.
Not necessarily. Whether a vaccine injury claim has a viable causation theory is a legal and scientific determination specific to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program’s standards, not a general clinical one. Some conditions that appear difficult to prove have been successfully compensated. Others that appear straightforward involve causation challenges that are underestimated at the outset.
The only way to know is a careful evaluation of your vaccination history, medical background, and the existing scientific literature for your specific condition and vaccine. The right question is whether that assessment was made by someone who understands the Program’s specific causation standards and has practiced inside it.
No. Your treating physician’s opinion is not the legal standard in Vaccine Court. Special Masters evaluate causation based on the full evidentiary record developed during the proceeding, including medical literature, expert reports, and testimony from experts retained specifically for the case.
Many successfully compensated vaccine claims involve conditions that treating physicians attributed to other causes or considered idiopathic. The relevant question is whether a sound, reliable medical theory connecting your vaccine to your condition can be built and supported by evidence. That is a legal and scientific determination, not a clinical one.
Yes. Occupational vaccinations, including flu shots required by employers, are covered by the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program the same as any other covered vaccine. The fact that your employer required or administered the vaccine does not affect your eligibility.
The first step is a confidential conversation about what happened and your vaccination history. You do not need a diagnosis, a doctor’s confirmation, or certainty about causation before reaching out.
Many cases in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program are developed from exactly that starting point: a person with serious concerns but no certainty about whether the facts add up to a claim. What matters is whether a sound causation theory can be built from your records and the existing scientific literature. The three-year filing deadline is strictly enforced. Waiting does not preserve your options. It narrows them.
Only if you are still within the three-year filing window from your first symptom, not from the date of vaccination. Many people do not connect their injury to their vaccination until months or years later. What matters is when your first symptom appeared, not when you realized the connection.
If you are unsure whether you are still within the window, a prompt evaluation with a vaccine injury attorney is worth having.
Yes. National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program petitions must be filed within these deadlines:
- For vaccine-related injuries, within three years of the first symptom
- For vaccine-related deaths, within two years of the death AND within four years of the first symptom
Those deadlines are strictly enforced. Missing them means losing access to the VICP entirely.
Beyond the filing deadline, delay creates practical risks: medical records become harder to obtain, recollections fade, and expert witnesses may be less available. The sooner a claim is evaluated, the more options remain open.
Longer than most people expect.
After filing, the Secretary of Health and Human Services conducts an initial medical review that currently takes 12 to 16 months. If the government contests the claim, a hearing date is typically set 18 to 24 months after that review concludes. In contested cases, resolution from filing through a final decision routinely takes three to five years.
Table cases and cases where the government concedes entitlement early move faster. Understanding the realistic timeline at the outset matters, both for how you plan financially and for managing expectations throughout the process.
National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program practice requires a depth of Program-specific experience that a personal injury or general litigation background does not provide.
Good questions to ask a vaccine injury lawyer include:
- How many National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program cases have you handled, and in what role?
- Have you tried contested causation cases through an evidentiary hearing, or primarily handled Table injuries and uncontested settlements?
- Have you worked with experts on conditions like mine?
The Program’s fee structure makes experienced, dedicated representation accessible at no out-of-pocket cost. There is no reason to accept representation from counsel who is learning the Program on your case.
Yes. A parent or legal guardian may file a petition on behalf of an injured child with no age restriction. Children injured by covered vaccines are eligible for compensation, including medical expenses, pain and suffering, and future care costs.
The three-year filing deadline runs from the first symptom. If this window is approaching, contact a VICP attorney immediately.