Widdoss v. Secretary of Dept. of Health and Human Services

• Decision Date: 24 March 1993
• Docket Number: No. 92-5096,92-5096
• Citation: 989 F.2d 1170
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Federal Circuit
• Parties: Dawn R. WIDDOSS, n/b/m Dawn R. Hineline, Individually and as Administratrix of the Estate of Crystal Renee Miller, Deceased, Petitioner-Appellee, v. SECRETARY OF the DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Respondent-Appellant.

Page 1170

989 F.2d 1170

Dawn R. WIDDOSS, n/b/m Dawn R. Hineline, Individually and as

Administratrix of the Estate of Crystal Renee

Miller, Deceased, Petitioner-Appellee, v. SECRETARY OF the DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,

Respondent-Appellant.

No. 92-5096.

United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit.

March 24, 1993.

Ronald J. Karasek, Zito, Martino & Karasek, Bangor, PA, argued for petitioner-appellee.

Mary Hampton Mason, Attorney, Dept. of Justice, Washington, DC, argued for respondent-appellant. With her on the brief were Stuart M. Gerson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Helene M. Goldberg and John Lodge Euler.

Before NEWMAN, MICHEL and CLEVENGER, Circuit Judges.

CLEVENGER, Circuit Judge.

The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services appeals from both the November 21, 1991 order of the United States Claims Court vacating the judgment entered in accordance with the special master's decision, and the Claims Court's February 6, 1992 judgment, Widdoss v. Secretary, Dep't of Health & Human Servs., 25 Cl.Ct. 251 (1992) (Gibson, J.), reversing the special master's decision and compensating Dawn R. Widdoss (Widdoss) under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act for the death of her daughter, Crystal Renee Miller, less than 24 hours after being vaccinated with diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT). Because Widdoss' motion to review the special master's decision was untimely, the Claims Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain and rule upon the merits of that motion. Consequently, we vacate the Claims Court's order and judgment and remand with instructions to enter judgment in accordance with the special master's decision.

I

This appeal raises three issues: (i) whether a special master's decision issued during a period of suspension under 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-12(d)(3)(C) ¹ is "issued" for the purpose of triggering the 30-day period in which to file a motion in the United States Claims Court to review the special master's decision under 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-12(e)(1); (ii) whether the 30-day period under section 300aa-12(e)(1) is jurisdictional; and (iii) whether the Claims Court has the authority to waive compliance with the 30-day period through use of its rules of procedure.

Statutory Framework

The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, Pub.L. No. 99-660 (Title III), 1986 U.S.C.C.A.N. (100 Stat.) 3755 (codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa-1 to 300aa-34 (1988 & Supp.1990) & at 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 300aa-1 to 300aa-34 (West 1991 & Supp.1992)) (Vaccine Act), provides that compensation is available on petition to the Claims Court to a claimant who demonstrates by preponderant evidence that, inter alia, the vaccinated child suffered one of four statutorily-defined "table" injuries, or a complication or "sequela" thereof. 42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa-13(a)(1), 300aa-14(a), (b) (1988 & Supp.1990).

The legislative history accompanying the original statute evidences a concern with rapid resolution of petitions:

The entire proceeding--from date of filing through Special Master proceedings and court review--is to take place as expeditiously as possible.... [M]uch of the equity in limiting compensation and limiting other remedies arises from the speed and reliability with which the petitioner can expect judgment; without such quick and certain conclusion of proceedings, the compensation system would work an injustice upon the petitioner.

H.R.Rep. No. 908, 99th Cong., 2d Sess. 17 (1986), reprinted in 1986 U.S.C.C.A.N. 6287, 6344, 6358 (emphasis added).

Under 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-12(d)(3)(A)(ii), originally enacted as subsection 2112(d) of the Vaccine Act, § 311(a), 1986 U.S.C.C.A.N. (100 Stat.) at 3762, the special master assigned to hear a petition has a limited period of 240 days after the petition's filing date in which to hear the merits and issue a decision. If the special master fails to issue a decision within the 240-day period, the special master shall notify the petitioner of her options either to have the petition remain before the special master or to withdraw the petition, upon submitting written notice to the Claims Court. 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 300aa-12(g), 300aa-21(b) (West 1991 & Supp.1992). ²

Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-12(d)(3)(C), however, the special master may, upon motion of either party, toll the 240-day period for an aggregate period not to exceed 150 days. Section 300aa-12(d)(3)(C) was added by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 (OBRA), Pub.L. No. 101-239, § 6601(g), 1989 U.S.C.C.A.N. (103 Stat.) 2106, 2289, the accompanying House Conference Report of which reads, in part:

[The Act permits] a suspension of time during the proceedings that is not to count in the aggregate time [of 240 days] allowed for compensation actions to proceed.... If the [special] master determines that further time is necessary for the action on the petition to proceed, the [special] master is ... authorized to allow ... suspensions, [with] the aggregate [suspension] period not to exceed 150 days in total.

H.R.Conf.Rep. No. 386, 101st Cong., 1st Sess. 516 (1989), reprinted in 1989 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3018, 3119 (emphasis added). This concern was further evidenced by the addition one year later of 42 U.S.C.A. § 300aa-12(d)(3)(D) (West Supp.1992), ³ which permits the chief special master, acting on his own initiative "in the interest of justice," to suspend proceedings associated with pre-September 30, 1990 vaccinations for a period of up to 540 days in addition to the 150-day suspension time under section 300aa-12(d)(3)(C), upon determining that "the number of filings and resultant workload place an undue burden on the parties or the special master involved in [the] proceedings." Id. Neither of these suspension provisions was intended to contravene the Vaccine Act's desire to resolve petitions rapidly, but instead resulted from the recognition that special masters assigned to hear individual cases may become so overburdened with the enormity of the caseload that they would be unable to deal properly with each case. See 42 U.S.C.A. § 300aa-12(d)(3)(D) (West 1991 & Supp.1992); 136 Cong.Rec. H9728 (daily ed. Oct. 15, 1990) (Joint Statement of Explanation of Amendments to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program); 136 Cong.Rec. S15,198 (daily ed. Oct. 12, 1990) (same).

In sum, the legislatively-enacted policy of prompt resolution of petitions is tempered by the reality of heavy caseloads and the resultant authority to enlarge the otherwise applicable decision-making period of 240 days.

Once a special master has issued a decision, 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-12(e)(1) provides for a 30-day period from the date of issuance thereof in which to file a motion to review the decision with the Claims Court. If no such motion is filed, the clerk of the Claims Court is required by statute to enter judgment immediately on the basis of the special master's decision. 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-12(e)(3).

Background

On June 28, 1988, at the age of five months, Crystal Renee Miller received her first DPT vaccination. Less than 24 hours later, the child was discovered dead in her crib after being unobserved for over two hours. The autopsy results indicated her cause of death as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

On June 4, 1990, Dawn Widdoss, both individually and as administratrix of the deceased, timely filed a petition for compensation for Crystal's death under the Vaccine Act. Widdoss alleged that Crystal had died as a direct result of suffering a "shock-collapse or hypotonic-hyporesponsive collapse" (HHE).

Widdoss' case was immediately assigned to Special Master Wright, whose statutory 240-day period in which to conclude the case would have expired on January 30, 1991. Pursuant to section 300aa-12(d)(3)(C), however, Special Master Wright granted one 30-day suspension in the proceedings prior to the January 25, 1991 evidentiary hearing, and one 30-day suspension thereafter to permit the parties to file post-hearing papers. Wright thereby extended the deadline for issuing her decision through March 31, 1991. During the post-hearing period in which she was to decide the case and issue her opinion, Special Master Wright, on March 28 and May 22, 1991, further suspended the proceedings for 60 and 7 days, respectively, thereby further extending her 240-day statutory deadline to June 6, 1991. Wright granted a final suspension of 14 days on June 6 in order to retain the authority to issue her opinion, which she did on June 7, 1991. Each extension of time was granted pursuant to a request by one of the parties.

On the merits, Special Master Wright determined that Widdoss had failed to prove by preponderant evidence that Crystal's death was a sequela of a table injury. This determination was based in part on the fact that Crystal failed to exhibit any clear symptoms of an HHE other than as part of the agonal process of death: "To say that death is a sequela of a shock-like state that is an integral part of the dying process simply defies logic." Widdoss v. Secretary, Dep't of Health & Human Servs., No. 90-486V, slip op. at 11, 1991 WL 112208 (Cl.Ct.Sp.Mstr. June 7, 1991).

On July 9, 1991, 31 days after the special master's decision issued, Widdoss filed her motion to review the special master's decision with the Claims Court. As a result of the untimely filing, on that same date, the clerk of the Claims Court sua sponte entered final judgment in accordance with the special master's decision as mandated by 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-12(e)(3).

In response to the Claims Court's adverse judgment, Widdoss submitted a motion for "reconsideration" of the clerk's entry of judgment, urging that the Claims Court vacate the judgment and review the merits of the case. On November 21, 1991, the Claims Court granted Widdoss' motion "in the interest of justice." Widdoss v. United States, 24 Cl.Ct. 547, 548 (1991) (order vacating judgment).

In so doing, the Claims Court addressed three argued bases on which to vacate the entry of judgment. First, the judge...