The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) was created by The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. The VICP was created in order to regulate vaccines by ensuring their safety, adequate supply, and cost. The VICP allows those injured by vaccines to bring their claims to federal court in a no-fault tort context. That means that although those who win their cases may be granted a financial remedy, including an award for pain and suffering, medical expenses, and, when appropriate, lost wages, the court is generally not interested in assigning blame for the vaccine-related injury.
Congress Established the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program in order to create a relatively fast, flexible, and less combative way to seek damages for vaccine injuries after finding in the mid-1980s that many vaccine injury torts claims were making their way into the court system. These cases were often expensive, very adversarial, and took lots of time to resolve, inconveniencing both the court and the party seeking relief for their injury. The VICP was created in order to establish a dedicated path for vaccine-related injury lawsuits so that these claims could be resolved more efficiently and judged by experts who were familiar with the vaccines and their science.
The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program allows those injured by vaccines to bring claims only for certain symptoms occurring within certain time-frames following certain vaccines. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, examples of such vaccines include the following:
Vaccines containing tetanus toxoid (e.g., DTaP, DTP, DT, Td, or TT)
Vaccines containing whole cell pertussis bacteria, extracted or partial cell pertussis bacteria, or specific pertussis antigen(s) (e.g., DTP, DTaP, P, DTP-Hib)
Measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine or any of its components (e.g., MMR, MR, M, R)
Vaccines containing rubella virus (e.g., MMR, MR, R)
Vaccines containing measles virus (e.g., MMR, MR, M)
Vaccines containing polio live virus (OPV)
Vaccines containing polio inactivated virus (e.g., IPV)
Hepatitis B. vaccines
Hemophilus influenzae type b polysaccharide conjugate vaccines
Varicella vaccine
Rotavirus vaccine
Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines
Hepatitis A vaccines
Trivalent influenza vaccines
Meningococcal vaccines
Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines
Any new vaccine recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for routine administration to children, after publication by the Secretary of a notice of coverage, with some exceptions
In order to prevail, you must be able to prove that you received a vaccine listed among the approved litigable vaccines under the VICP and that the vaccine caused or substantially contributed to certain approved injuries and/or worsened an existing injury to get worse.
There are strict time-frames within which claims must be filed in the VICP in order to recover for a vaccine-caused injury, so do not delay in contacting an experienced Vaccine Injury Attorney at the Locks Law Firm. Of note, our partner, Jerry A. Lindheim, is listed as a Vaccine Attorney located in Pennsylvania on the website for Vaccine Claims / Office of Special Masters of the United States Court of Federal Claims.
The Locks Law Firm has decades of experience and proven results handling medical malpractice claims and other personal injury lawsuits. If you believe you may have been injured resultant to receiving a vaccine, you may have the right to seek financial recovery for the injuries or disability that you have sustained. Contact a Vaccine Injury Attorney in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York Offices of the Locks Law Firm today to schedule a free, confidential consultation and case evaluation.
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