Home

Climate Change Project

Table of Contents

Courses

Search
<< >> Up Title Contents

The Vaccine Compensation Act

Products liability losses by vaccine manufacturers have driven the cost of vaccines beyond the reach of indigent patients and many health departments. In an effort to control these losses, Congress passed the Vaccine Injury Compensation Act to compensate persons injured by vaccines. This compensation program is funded by a combination of tax revenues on vaccine sales and general tax revenues. This law has two major flaws. One is that the tax on vaccine sales is very high, exceeding four dollars a dose for some common vaccines. The more important is that it is not an exclusive remedy.

While the plaintiff is required to file a claim for review under the act, the plaintiff may reject the award offered under the act and sue the vaccine manufacturer. This is most likely to happen in cases involving brain-injured children. These are the cases that are sympathetic to jurors and thus are most likely to result in huge damage awards. Allowing these plaintiffs to opt out of the compensation system leaves vaccine manufacturers subject to the same high products liability costs that have driven up the price of vaccinations. It is possible that the net result of the law will be to increase vaccine costs, further crippling immunization efforts in the United States.

<< >> Up Title Contents

Law and the Physician Homepage
Copyright 1993 - NOT UPDATED

The Climate Change and Public Health Law Site
The Best on the WWW Since 1995!
Copyright as to non-public domain materials
See DR-KATE.COM for home hurricane and disaster preparation
See WWW.EPR-ART.COM for photography of southern Louisiana and Hurricane Katrina
Professor Edward P. Richards, III, JD, MPH - Webmaster

Provide Website Feedback - https://www.lsu.edu/feedback
Privacy Statement - https://www.lsu.edu/privacy
Accessibility Statement - https://www.lsu.edu/accessibility