Petition for Vaccine Compensation is Untimely, Special Master Rules

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A U.S. Court of Federal Claims special master has dismissed a petition for compensation filed by the parents of an autistic child, ruling that it was untimely filed under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. Munoz v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, No. 03-0461 (U.S. Fed. Cl. Ct.).

In a Special Master Denise K. Vowell found that a medical professional first recognized the child's autism in September 1999 and that petitioners missed the September 2002 cutoff date.

Nancy and Lawrence Munoz filed a short-form autism petition on behalf of their daughter Megan, seeking compensation under the …