Michael Veytsel v. Secretary of Health and Human Services

N OTE: This order is nonprecedential.
United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit
______________________
MICHAEL VEYTSEL,
Petitioner-Appellant
v.
SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES,
Respondent-Appellee
______________________
2024-1476
______________________
Appeal from the United States Court of Federal Claims
in No. 1:23-vv-00428-UNJ.
______________________
ON MOTION
______________________
Before L OURIE, D YK, and REYNA, Circuit Judges.
P ER CURIAM .
O R D E R
The Secretary of Health and Human Services moves to
dismiss Michael Veytsel’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction.
Mr. Veytsel has not responded to the motion.
Under the statutory scheme that governs National
Vaccine Injury Compensation Program cases, 42 U.S.C.
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VEYTSEL v. HHS 2
§§ 300aa-1 to 34, the case is first assigned to a special mas-
ter for informal adjudication of the petition. See § 300aa-
12(d)(3). Once the special master has reached a decision, a
party has “30 days to file with the clerk of the United States
Court of Federal Claims a motion to have the court review
the decision.” § 300aa-12(e)(1). In the absence of such a
motion, “the clerk of the . . . Court of Federal Claims shall
immediately enter judgment in accordance with the special
master’s decision.” § 300aa-12(e)(3). Here, on June 14,
2023, a special master dismissed Mr. Veytsel’s petition for
compensation. Mr. Veytsel did not seek review of the spe-
cial master’s decision before the Court of Federal Claims,
and judgment was accordingly entered July 19, 2023. On
February 8, 2024, this court received Mr. Veytsel’s notice
of appeal.
This court has long held that the statutory scheme gov-
erning Vaccine Act cases “makes appeal to the Court of
Federal Claims a prerequisite for appeal to this court.”
Grimes v. Sec’y of Dep’t of Health & Hum. Servs., 988 F.2d
1196, 1198 (Fed. Cir. 1993); see also Mahaffey v. Sec’y of
Dep’t of Health & Hum. Servs., 368 F.3d 1378, 1382–83
(Fed. Cir. 2004) (noting that review by the Court of Federal
Claims is “obligatory if further appeal to the Federal Cir-
cuit is desired”). Here, Mr. Veytsel did not seek review by
the Court of Federal Claims and thus cannot presently
seek review in this court. This court, however, will trans-
mit the February 8, 2024 notice of appeal to the Court of
Federal Claims for consideration of whether the notice of
appeal can be construed as a motion for review under
§ 300aa-12(e)(1) and whether such a motion would be time-
barred.
Accordingly,
I T I S O RDERED T HAT :
(1) The Secretary’s motion is granted to the extent
that this appeal is terminated, and the case is transferred
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VEYTSEL v. HHS 3
to the Court of Federal Claims for further proceedings con-
sistent with this order.
(2) All other pending motions are denied.
(3) Each side shall bear its own costs.
May 28, 2024
Date
F OR THE COURT
Case: 24-1476 Document: 10 Page: 3 Filed: 05/28/2024

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