Debra Simmons v. Secretary of Health and Human Services

NOTE: This order is nonprecedential.
United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit
______________________
DEBRA SIMMONS,
Petitioner-Appellant
v.
SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES,
Respondent-Appellee
______________________
2024-1688
______________________
Appeal from the United States Court of Federal Claims
in No. 1:23-vv-00121-UNJ.
______________________
Before STOLL, CUNNINGHAM, and STARK, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM.
O R D E R
In response to this court’s April 25, 2024 show cause
order, the Secretary of Health and Human Services urges
dismissal while Debra Simmons argues, in part, difficulties
in prosecuting her case due to her alleged disability.
The special master dismissed Ms. Simmons’s petition
for compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Com-
pensation Program (“Vaccine Act”). Having received no
motion for review, the United States Court of Federal
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SIMMONS v. HHS 2
Claims entered judgment. See 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-12(e)(3).
Ms. Simmons then filed a notice of appeal to this court.
The statutory scheme governing Vaccine Act cases gen-
erally “makes appeal to the Court of Federal Claims a pre-
requisite 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 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-12(e), (f); Mahaffey v. Sec’y of
Dep’t of Health & Hum. Servs., 368 F.3d 1378, 1382–83
(Fed. Cir. 2004). Ms. Simmons did not seek review at the
Court of Federal Claims before filing this appeal, and she
provides no basis for allowing this appeal to proceed under
such circumstances. Although the government urges the
court to dismiss without taking further action, we deem it
more appropriate to transmit her filings to the Court of
Federal Claims for that court to consider whether Ms. Sim-
mons’s filings can be construed as a motion for review un-
der 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-12(e)(1) and to decide in the first
instance whether such a motion would be time-barred, or
whether her filings can otherwise be construed as seeking
relief from judgment. See Ling v. Sec’y of Health & Hum.
Servs., No. 2023-1072, 2023 WL 8447276, at *2 n.2 (Fed.
Cir. Dec. 6, 2023) (“We have not resolved whether or not
[the Supreme Court’s] recent guidance affects our holding
in Widdoss[ v. Sec’y of Dep’t of Health & Hum. Servs., 989
F.2d 1170 (Fed. Cir. 1993)].”); Greenberg v. Sec’y of Health
& Hum. Servs., 646 F. App’x 985, 888 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (not-
ing the Court of Federal Claims’s review of special master’s
decision under similar circumstances).
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED THAT:
(1) The appeal is dismissed.
(2) The Clerk of Court is directed to transmit a copy of
this order and ECF Nos. 1-2, 5, and 6 to the Court of Fed-
eral Claims for further proceedings consistent with this or-
der.
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SIMMONS v. HHS 3
(3) Each side shall bear its own costs.
June 25, 2024
Date
FOR THE COURT
Case: 24-1688 Document: 11 Page: 3 Filed: 06/25/2024

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