On October 1, 1988, the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 created the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). The VICP is a no-fault program for resolving vaccine injury claims that provides compensation to people determined to have been injured by certain vaccines, including DTP – Diptheria, Tetanus, Pertussis; DTaP – Diptheria, Tetanus, Acellular Pertussis; MMR – Measles, Mumps, Rubella; HBV- Hepatitis B; Hib- Haemophilus Influenzae type b; PCV- Pneumococcal Conjugate; OPV or IPV – Oral Polio and Inactivated Polio; and TIV – Influenza; among others. The money used to pay compensation is generated by a tax on the vaccines covered by the program.
A claim may be filed if you received a vaccine covered by the VICP and have been injured by the vaccine. A claim also may be filed by a parent or legal guardian of a child or disabled person if that child or disabled person received a vaccine covered by the VICP and was injured by the vaccine. In addition, a claim may be filed by the legal representative of the estate of a deceased person who received a vaccine covered by the VICP and that person’s death resulted from the vaccine.
Compensation under the VICP can include, depending on the specifics of a particular case, the cost of medical care, hospitalizations, medication, special education, vocational training and placement, counseling, emotional or behavioral therapy, residential and custodial care and service expenses, special equipment, related transportation expenses, as well as loss of earnings and pain and suffering. The VICP also pays the reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in connection with a petition for compensation brought under the program. These attorneys’ fees and costs are not deducted from any compensation award made to a person injured by a vaccination, or to the estate of a person who died as the result of a vaccination.
The attorneys at McCarthy Wilson have a special expertise in this area of the law and can assist you and your children in the pursuit of viable claims for injuries and other damages from the effects of vaccine injuries. Please contact us for a free consultation.
If you have questions about this practice area or would like a case evaluation, please call us at (301) 762-7770, or email Ron Cox directly.