Vaccine Injury Compensation Programs

allnurses Guide · Dec 1, 2013

"Vaccine Injury Compensation Programs

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Vaccine Information Sheet for a vaccine against human papillomavirus

No medical intervention is completely risk free. Vaccines, though they are designed to protect from disease, can cause side effects that range from mild to serious. The most common side effects from vaccination are soreness, swelling, or redness at the injection site. Some vaccines are associated with fever, rash, and achiness. Serious side effects from vaccination are rare, but may include life-threatening allergic reaction, seizure, and even death.

When vaccines first began to be widely used, people who experienced serious side effects from vaccination had little recourse to compensation from manufacturers, physicians, or the government. This was particularly a problem when vaccine production techniques were in their infancy and contamination of vaccines occasionally occurred during or after manufacture. Since the passage in 1902 of the U.S. Biologics Control Act, which initiated the regulation of vaccines, such problems with negligence in manufacture have declined greatly.

As product liability law evolved during the 20th century, it eventually provided an avenue for compensation for individuals harmed by vaccines: they could sue a manufacturer for harm caused by an improperly made vaccine, or they could sue a physician for administering a vaccine when it was contraindicated. In the United States, the civil court system applies the principles of tort law to these suits.

This rest of this article addresses programs that compensate individuals for adverse clinical events that are known to be caused by properly manufactured vaccines. Because governments have an interest in maintaining public health by means of vaccination, many, including the U.S. government, have developed no-fault systems for compensating people who have been adversely affected by certain vaccines. These people, to some degree, have assumed the risk of adverse event on behalf of the society in which they live. Therefore, many governments have adopted the position that it is fair and reasonable to compensate those who are harmed by properly manufactured vaccines."

http://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/vaccine-injury-compensation-programs