J.a.c. v. Secretary of Health and Human Services

N OTE: This disposition is nonprecedential.
United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit
______________________
J.A.C.,
Petitioner-Appellant
v.
SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES,
Respondent-Appellee
______________________
2025-1751
______________________
Appeal from the United States Court of Federal Claims
in No. 1:03-vv-02807-TMD, Judge Thompson M. Dietz.
______________________
Decided: December 29, 2025
______________________
J.A.C., Venice, FL, pro se.
ELEANOR H ANSON, Torts Branch, Civil Division, United
States Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for re-
spondent-appellee. Also represented by C. S ALVATORE
D'ALESSIO, H EATHER LYNN PEARLMAN, BRETT S HUMATE.
______________________
Before LOURIE , REYNA , and CUNNINGHAM, Circuit Judges.
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J.A .C . v. HHS 2
Opinion for the court filed by Circuit Judge REYNA .
Circuit Judge CUNNINGHAM concurring in the result.
REYNA , Circuit Judge.
Pro se appellant J.A.C. appeals the United States
Court of Federal Claims’ denial of his August 19, 2024 mo-
tion to seal in the proceedings below. We affirm in part and
reverse in part and remand.
BACKGROUND
I.
The Vaccine Act created the National Vaccine Injury
Compensation Program through which claimants can peti-
tion to receive compensation for vaccine-related injuries or
death. 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-10(a). It is well-established that
the Vaccine Act is a “pro-claimant regime” meant to allow
injured individuals a fair and fast path to compensation.
See, e.g., K. G. v. Sec’y of Health & Hum. Servs., 951 F.3d
1374, 1380 (Fed. Cir. 2020).
The Vaccine Act established an Office of Special Mas-
ters within the United States Court of Federal Claims
(“Claims Court”) to issue decisions on petitions for compen-
sation. § 300aa-12(c)(1). If a petitioner disagrees with the
special master’s decision, he can seek review of the decision
by a judge of the Claims Court. § 300aa-12(d)(3)(A). He
can then appeal the Claims Court’s decision to this court.
§ 300aa-12(f).
The Vaccine Act has protections in place for petitioner’s
sensitive information. Under the Act, no “information”
submitted by petitioner to the special master or the court
can be disclosed to anyone who is not a party without ex-
press written consent by the petitioner. § 300aa-12(d)(4).
A “decision,” however, by the special master or the court in
a Vaccine Act proceeding “shall be disclosed,” with one ex-
ception: if the petitioner “objects” to the inclusion of certain
pieces of information, such as “trade secret or commercial
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J.A .C . v. HHS 3
or financial information,” or “medical files and similar files
the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwar-
ranted invasion of privacy,” the “decision shall be disclosed
without such information.” Id.
The Claims Court also has protections in place for sen-
sitive information. First, in its local rules for vaccine cases,
also known as the “Vaccine Rules,” all filings made in a
Vaccine Act case are “made available only to the special
master, the judge, and the parties.” Vaccine Rule 18(a).
Additionally, a decision by the special master or a Claims
Court judge will be held for 14 days to allow each party the
opportunity to object to the public disclosure “of any infor-
mation . . . that includes medical files or similar files, the
disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted
invasion of privacy.” Vaccine Rule 18(b).1
The Claims Court provides extra protections for mi-
nors’ information. In 2008, the local rules for all cases filed
before the Claims Court, i.e., the “Rules of United States
Court of Federal Claims” (“RCFC”), were amended to add
RCFC 5.2, which provides that for a filing with the court
that contains “the name of an individual known to be a mi-
nor,” the “filing may include only: . . . the minor’s initials.”
RCFC 5.2(a)(3) (emphasis added). In 2011, Vaccine Rule
16 was amended to provide that “[i]f the petition is filed on
behalf of a minor, the caption may include only the minor’s
initials.” Vaccine Rule 16(b) (emphasis added).
II.
A. 2012 Decision
In 2003, J.A.C.’s mother filed a petition for compensa-
tion on his behalf, alleging J.A.C., who was a small child at
the time, was injured because of a childhood vaccine.
1 Vaccine Rule 18 was in place as of 2003, when
J.A.C.’s mother filed his petition for compensation.
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J.A .C . v. HHS 4
J.A.C. and his mother were represented by counsel at the
time of filing his petition. J.A. 42. Given that the current
versions of Vaccine Rule 16(b) and RCFC 5.2(a)(3) were not
in effect then, J.A.C.’s petition referenced his full name,
even though he was a minor.
On January 9, 2012, the special master dismissed
J.A.C.’s petition (“2012 Decision”). Relevant here, and for
reasons not clear in the record, the 2012 Decision contained
J.A.C.’s full name instead of his initials, J.A.C., even
though appellant was a minor and RCFC 5.2(a) and Vac-
cine Rule 16(b) now required parties to only use minors’
initials in Vaccine Act proceedings. Specifically, the first
page of the 2012 Decision displays the case caption, which
uses J.A.C.’s full name and his mother’s full name. J.A. 23.
The first page also notes J.A.C.’s medical condition. Id.
The remainder of the decision refers to J.A.C. by his first
name. J.A. 24–25.
The 2012 Decision noted that pursuant to Vaccine Rule
18(b), the special master will publish the opinion on the
Claims Court’s website and that a party has 14 days from
the date of the decision to move the court for redactions to
the decision. J.A. 23. No motion to redact the 2012 Deci-
sion was filed.2 J.A. 27. The 2012 Decision was subse-
quently published on the Claims Court’s website, where it
remains currently accessible. As J.A.C. noted below, a
search of his name on an internet search engine, such as
Google, will bring up the 2012 Decision from the Claims
Court’s website. Id.
2 J.A.C. and his mother were still represented by
counsel at the time of the 2012 Decision. J.A. 27. J.A.C.
claims his mother was “never made aware” by their attor-
ney about the “redaction of the case . . . or it’s ramifications
if steps to not redact were not taken.” Informal Br. 4–5.
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J.A .C . v. HHS 5
B. 2019 – 2020 Proceedings
On April 26, 2019, J.A.C.’s mother filed a “motion for
consideration,” seeking to redact the 2012 Decision.3
J.A. 27. The motion noted that the 2012 Decision “could be
found through Google, had exposed her son’s ‘protected
health information’ and had made him a target of bully-
ing.” Id. The motion requested that the Office of Special
Masters “remove” the 2012 Decision and “link from the in-
ternet.” Id. The government did not respond to the motion.
Id.
In June 2019, the special master granted in part the
motion despite it being filed seven years after the issuance
of the 2012 Decision (“June 2019 Order”). J.A. 29–30. The
special master noted that J.A.C.’s mother did not have “the
opportunity to avail herself of [Vaccine] Rule 16(b)’s protec-
tion of a minor’s privacy at the time that she originally filed
the petition in 2007,”4 and that “[h]ad the petition been
filed today, J.A.C.’s name would have been redacted as a
matter of course.” J.A. 28–29. The special master also
noted that J.A.C.’s mother “offered a compelling reason for
redaction. She asserts . . . the fully-realized fear that the
exposure of her son’s medical information would disrupt
his socialization and emotional health as he grew older.”
J.A. 29.
Thus, the special master ordered that the caption for
J.A.C.’s case, Case No. 3-2807, and the case caption dis-
played on CM/ECF online, be amended to reflect J.A.C.’s
3 At this point, J.A.C. and his mother were no longer
represented by counsel. J.A. 27.
4 This is incorrect. The petition was filed in 2003, not
2007. J.A. 42.
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J.A .C . v. HHS 6
initials, J.A.C., and to remove his mother from the caption.
Id.5
This order to change the case caption, however, did not
apply retroactively such that the case caption in the 2012
Decision only reflected J.A.C.’s initials. Id. Rather, the
special master explained that any redaction to the 2012 De-
cision was not feasible since the 2012 Decision had been
available on the internet for seven years and thus “can be
found on other legal research sites.” Id.
On June 26, 2019, J.A.C. moved for reconsideration of
the June 2019 Order. J.A. 31. The government did not
respond to the motion. J.A. 32. J.A.C. requested that the
June 2019 Order not be publicly posted online or, alterna-
tively, that his mother’s full name in the body of the order
be redacted to display only her initials. Id. The special
master granted in part the motion, ordering redaction of
the order to only display the initials of J.A.C.’s mother
(“August 2019 Order”). J.A. 33.
On January 12, 2020, J.A.C. filed a document titled
“Complaint,” seeking to enforce the August 2019 Order.
J.A. 36. J.A.C. argued that a search of his full name on the
internet leads to the 2012 Decision on the Claims Court’s
website, which contains his full name in the case caption,
instead of his initials, J.A.C., and his first name in the body
of the decision. Id. J.A.C. requested that the link to the
2012 Decision on the Claims Court’s website be “disabled
or the last name removed and changed to reflect J.A.C. in
the filename.” Id. The government did not respond to the
Complaint. Id.
5 The special master explained that because appel-
lant had reached the “age of majority,” the case caption
could be amended to reflect only J.A.C. as the petitioner.
J.A. 29.
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J.A .C . v. HHS 7
The special master rejected J.A.C.’s redaction request
(“April 2020 Order”). J.A. 39. The special master ex-
plained even if the 2012 Decision were to be redacted on
the Claims Court’s website, “it is impossible to remove it
from the internet as a whole,” given that an “unknown
number of legal research and other websites” could have
picked up the 2012 Decision and posted it on their respec-
tive websites. J.A. 37, J.A. 39.
C. Instant Proceedings
In 2024, J.A.C. filed a motion, seeking to seal all rec-
ords in his case and giving rise to the instant appeal.
J.A. 12. The special master denied the motion (“December
2024 Order”), explaining that there were two categories of
information at issue: (1) the 2012 Decision itself; (2) and all
the other filings, including J.A.C.’s medical records, made
in Case No. 3-2087. J.A. 13–14. With respect to the 2012
Decision, the special master found that there is “simply no
further relief possible.” J.A. 13. The special master found
that “[a]ll redactions permissible under the Act were per-
mitted by two orders [the June 2019 and August 2019 or-
ders].” Id. (emphasis omitted). As for the filings in the
case, the special master noted J.A.C.’s request is a “redun-
dant form of relief,” given that all filings in Case No. 3-2807
are already effectively filed under seal because they are
only accessible to court personnel and parties to the case.
J.A. 14.
J.A.C. then filed a motion for review of the special mas-
ter’s December 2024 Order in the Claims Court. J.A. 18.
The Claims Court denied the motion for review.
J.A. 15–22.
J.A.C. appeals. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 42
U.S.C. § 300aa-12.
D ISCUSSION
“We review an appeal from the Court of Federal Claims
in a Vaccine Act case de novo, applying the same standard
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J.A .C . v. HHS 8
of review as the Court of Federal Claims applied to its re-
view of the special master’s decision.” Broekelschen v. Sec’y
of Health & Hum. Servs., 618 F.3d 1339, 1345 (Fed. Cir.
2010). Thus, we review questions of law de novo, uphold
the special master’s factual findings unless they are arbi-
trary or capricious, and review the special master’s discre-
tionary rulings for an abuse of discretion. Munn v. Sec’y of
Dep’t of Health & Hum. Servs., 970 F.2d 863, 870 n.10 (Fed.
Cir. 1992). “An abuse of discretion exists when the trial
court’s decision is clearly unreasonable, arbitrary or fanci-
ful, or is based on clearly erroneous findings of fact or erro-
neous conclusions of law.” G.L.G. ex rel. Graves v. Sec’y of
Health & Hum. Servs., 577 F. App’x 976, 980 (Fed. Cir.
2014) (quoting Lazare Kaplan Int’l, Inc. v. Photoscribe
Techs., Inc., 714 F.3d 1289, 1293 (Fed. Cir. 2013)).
At issue is the special master’s December 2024 Order.
Informal Br. at 1. For the following reasons, we affirm in
part, and reverse in part, and remand.
As previously noted, J.A.C.’s 2024 motion concerned
two categories of information: the 2012 Decision and the
filings in Case No. 3-2807. Turning to the latter category,
the Vaccine Act requires all filings, including medical rec-
ords, submitted in a case to be shielded from public view
and made available only to parties to the proceedings and
court personnel. See 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-12(d)(4)(A); Vac-
cine Rule 18(a). Thus, given that all filings in Case
No. 3-2807 are already shielded from public view, the spe-
cial master did not abuse his discretion, err as a matter of
law, or make arbitrary or capricious findings in denying
appellant’s request to seal the filings in Case No. 3-2807.
As to the 2012 Decision, the special master’s determi-
nation was an abuse of discretion. While the special mas-
ter has discretion to deny or grant J.A.C.’s 2024 motion, the
special master cannot base such action on “clearly unrea-
sonable, arbitrary or fanciful, or . . . clearly erroneous find-
ings of fact or erroneous conclusions of law.” Lazare
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J.A .C . v. HHS 9
Kaplan, 714 F.3d at 1293. Here, the special master based
his denial of J.A.C.’s request, which we construe as a re-
quest for redaction of the 2012 Decision, on two erroneous
factual findings: that the special master lacked “control”
over the 2012 Decision and that redaction of the 2012 De-
cision was “impossible” given that the decision has been
made public for several years. J.A. 13.
First, the special master has control over the 2012 De-
cision posted on the Claims Court’s website and has the au-
thority to redact J.A.C.’s name from the 2012 Decision.
Burns by Burns v. Sec’y of Dep’t of Health & Hum. Servs.,
3 F.3d 415, 417 (Fed. Cir. 1993) (“A special master . . . has
wide discretion in conducting the proceedings in a case.”).
Indeed, special masters redact such information regularly.
See, e.g., Windhorst v. Sec’y of Health & Hum. Servs., No.
13-647V, 2017 WL 728045, at *4 (Fed. Cl. Jan. 10, 2017)
(noting that “it is common in cases involving minor chil-
dren to redact to initials”).
Second, redaction of J.A.C.’s name from the 2012 Deci-
sion on the Claims Court’s website is not “impossible.” To
the contrary, the special master can quickly and efficiently
redact the 2012 Decision. To the extent the special master
relied on findings articulated in the June 2019 and April
2020 orders, i.e., that there could be public copies of the
2012 Decision posted on the internet and thus any redac-
tion of the 2012 Decision on the Claims Court website
would be futile, J.A. 29, J.A. 37, such findings are unsup-
ported by the record. There is no evidence in the record
before us of other public copies besides the version on the
Claims Court website. Additionally, J.A.C. has only nar-
rowly argued that the 2012 Decision posted on the Claims
Court website causes him harm because a Google search of
his name will lead to this version of the decision. Informal
Br. 8; J.A. 27, J.A. 36. Thus, the special master’s findings
that other public copies render redaction “impossible” is
clearly erroneous.
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J.A .C . v. HHS 10
The special master is not an advocate.6 Rather, the
special master makes findings of fact and conclusions of
law based on the record before him. See 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-
12(a), (d). To overlook J.A.C.’s evidence and argument and
instead base the denial on an unsubstantiated theory that
other public copies of the 2012 Decision exist runs counter
to the pro-claimant purpose of the Vaccine Act and under-
cuts the protections afforded to minors under Vaccine Rule
16(b) and RCFC 5.2(a)(3).
In sum, the special master denied J.A.C. the narrow
remedy of redaction based on clearly erroneous factual
findings. This is an abuse of discretion.7
6 In 2019 and 2020, the government never responded
to J.A.C.’s requests for redaction, and hence, never argued
against J.A.C.’s request. The notion that other public cop-
ies of the 2012 Decision exist was raised sua sponte by the
special master in the June 2019 and April 2020 orders.
J.A. 29, J.A. 37.
7 Additionally, to the extent the special master relied
on J.A.C.’s failure to request redaction within the 14-day
deadline under Vaccine Rule 18(b) as a basis to deny appel-
lant’s request for redaction, such reasoning is legally erro-
neous. Special masters cannot rely on Vaccine Rule 18(b)
to shift the burden to the minor to request redaction of his
name in order for such information to be protected from
public disclosure. The names of minors are protected infor-
mation shielded from public disclosure under Vaccine 16(b)
and RCFC 5.2(a)(3). The requirements to use a minor’s in-
itials under these rules equally apply to special masters.
Otherwise, a special master’s disclosure of a minor’s name
in a decision would render futile the protections offered to
minors under Vaccine Rule 16(b) and RCFC 5.2(a)(3).
Thus, reading Vaccine Rule 18(b) harmoniously with Vac-
cine Rule 16(b) and RCFC 5.2(a)(3), requests for redaction
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J.A .C . v. HHS 11
CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above, we affirm in part, reverse
in part, and remand the Claims Court’s decision affirming
the special master’s December 2024 Order. The Claims
Court should remand this case to the special master and
order the removal of J.A.C.’s name from the 2012 Decision
posted on the Claims Court website and from the accompa-
nying URL. Only appellant’s initials, J.A.C., shall be dis-
played in the 2012 Decision posted on the Claims Court’s
website.
AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND
REMANDED
COSTS
Costs to J.A.C.
under Vaccine Rule 18(b) concerns information other than
a minor’s name.
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