Vaccination has clear public health advantages. WHO reported that in 2008 vaccinations helped prevent more than 2.5 million fatalities. Vaccination through immunization campaigns has contributed to the elimination of pox, poliomyelitis, and measles. It has resulted in a significant reduction in death from whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus, influenza, Etc. Vaccines are not risk-free, however, and it is generally recognized that adverse effects arise after vaccination, irrespective of manufacturing and distribution, but significant adverse events are uncommon. These adverse effects associated with the vaccine are sometimes attributed to negligence or incompetence.

The vaccine injury compensation program is a program in the US where patients who experience adverse effects from childhood vaccines, receive compensation. The objective of this program is to maintain the price and supply of vaccines by eliminating all the liabilities from the manufacturer on injuries that are related to immunization. The launch of this program was among the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, which was enacted in 1988.

The vaccine injury compensation program (VICP) was established due to the age-long controversy on how to address the adverse reactions that result from childhood vaccines. Previously, before the enactment of this Act, the usual solution for parents whose children suffered from this reaction was to sue the vaccine manufacturer which was usually time-consuming and costly.

For vaccine-related treatment and rehabilitation costs, injury and suffering and loss of earnings, qualifying applicants may seek compensation. The Vaccine Litigation Office works to maintain the program for potential qualifying lawsuits by defending the Vaccine Trust Fund from allegations from others that have not suffered a vaccination-related injury.  Claimants can also recover legal fees and expenses when the claim is denied when a claim is reasonable and filed in good faith.

In 1982, the news media started to explain the predicament faced by kids having severe reactions to vaccines. Under this program, vaccines covered include vaccines that guard against polio, tetanus, measles, diphtheria, rubella, pertussis, mumps, chickenpox, influenza, hepatitis A & B, Etc. Several claims of disabilities were filed against manufacturers for disabilities that are as a result of immunization. Most manufacturers were sued for damages for millions of dollars since there is no system to address the extent or magnitude of this liability litigation. Many manufacturers consider this possibility of a huge settlement as an outrageous risk considering the costs for development and the low-profit margin from vaccines. As a result, some manufacturers decided to quit the vaccine production landscape which liability was indicated as the major cause. The remaining manufacturers increased the prices of vaccines just to cover for future liability expenses.

Several committees, in the mid-1980s that includes the Institute of Medicine Committee on Vaccine Supply and Innovation, established the development of a compensation system with no-fault. The American Academy of Pediatrics began a plan of action by seeking federal legislation to develop a compensation program. The members of Congress passed several bills that were heavily contended in congressional trials which later led to the enactment of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program in 1986 sponsored by Senator Orrin Hatch and Representative Henry Waxman.

How to file a lawsuit under the VICP?

The initial step when filing for a lawsuit under the VICP is to tender a petition at the US Court Claims to check if the petitioner meets certain conditions. The petition is then reviewed by any special master assigned to request a recommendation from the VICP office at the Department of Health and Human Services. The amount of compensation will then be decided by the special master once the petitioner is qualified. However, this process does not involve the healthcare providers or the manufacturers and determination of legal fault do not usually exist. The petitioner is not allowed to file any lawsuit for damages once their application has been approved by the program.

The burden of proof required by a petitioner

The burden of proof is usually a piece of evidence that must be presented by the petitioner at the vaccine court which must be met with three-prong tests that must connect the vaccine to the injury and prove that the injury occurred within a specific timeframe.

Once a petitioner has proved a “causation of fact” and “Table injury” from these three prongs, the 2005 US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that an award for compensation should be granted.

These prongs include:

• A medical-related theory that connects the injury to the vaccination.
• A realistic occurrence of effects and causes that reveals that the injury was as a result of the vaccination.
• A display of the proximate temporal relationship between the injury and the vaccination.

There are two types of petitioners which are prospective and retrospective. 

• Prospective petitioners are those with cases of injury on or after October 1988 that are expected to submit a petition between 2 to 4 years from the date of the injury. The compensation trust fund is usually used to cover funds awarded to prospective petitioners.
• Retrospective petitioners are those who suffered an injury before October 1988 and expected to submit a petition before January 31, 1991. $50 million has been approved annually to cover for retrospective petitions.

The amount of compensation is usually estimated after considering the medical bills and other relevant expenses, suffering, agony and lost income. A fixed sum of $250,000 is usually awarded in death cases. Since this program is used as a substitute and not exclusively for the compensation, petitioners are allowed to decline the approved decision by the program. But prospective petitioners are not permitted to file a claim until a petition has been submitted to the program and a final decision that has been rejected in support of the litigation.

Petitioners who are not pleased with the judgment of the special matter can appeal using two levels. 

• The US claims Court can be informed to review the decision

• The US Court of Appeals can also be informed for a review if the petitioner is still not satisfied with the decision from the US Claims Court.If you have a vaccine injury, contact us for help.