Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
Rheumatology expert rates in the federal vaccine program (NVICP)
Rheumatology comes up in the program often enough to band, and rarely enough that the whole record fits on one exhibit: 11 determinations from 9 named rheumatologists in 11 decisions, 2016–2024. Thin, and we say so — but every value is a rate a special master allowed in writing, which is more than any survey can claim.
Rates set or approved by special masters
| 25th percentile | $400 |
| Median | $500 |
| 75th percentile | $500 |
About this forum
These rates come from the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program: decisions of the special masters of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on petitions under the Vaccine Act. The program pays petitioners' attorneys' fees and costs — including expert fees — from its trust fund when a petition qualifies (42 U.S.C. § 300aa-15(e)), so requested expert hourly rates are ruled on in writing, in published fee decisions, by one court with a developed rate practice. We never pool these with the federal-court bands; a special master pricing record review is not a district judge pricing a deposition.
From the record
Three of the determinations behind this band, described the way the exhibit cites them — the exhibit itself names the experts, quotes the decisions, and links each one to the public court document it came from:
- rheumatology · Fed. Cl. Spec. Mstr. · Mar. 2024 · $500/hr · approved as requested
- rheumatology · Fed. Cl. Spec. Mstr. · Sept. 2023 · $400/hr · approved as requested
- rheumatology · Fed. Cl. Spec. Mstr. · Oct. 2022 · $500/hr · approved as requested
For petitioners' counsel
If you file fee applications in the program, this band is the precedent you would otherwise assemble by hand. Special masters do move rates: of the 11 determinations behind this band, 8 were approved at the requested rate; the rest were not. An application that shows the requested rate sitting inside what special masters have already allowed, with the decisions cited, is cheaper to write and harder to cut. The exhibit is the same document at the same price whether you buy it or your expert does.
The band above is free and stays free. The exhibit is the version you hand to counsel: your rate placed among the band's 9 values — one per named expert — with the percentile stated, the qualifying decisions quoted and cited, and every citation linked to the public court document it came from. Prepared for your rate and setting, delivered to your inbox in minutes.
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