[NVIC] Dan Burton Introduces Vaccine Injury Bill

[Guest guest]

E-NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER

Vienna, Virginia http://www.nvic.org

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UNITED WAY/COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN

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" Protecting the health and informed consent rights of children since 1982. "

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BL Fisher Note:

The man who has fought harder than any other member of Congress for

justice for vaccine injured children - Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) last night

introduced the National Vaccine Program Improvement Act of 2005 (H.R. 1349)

to improve the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) created under the

National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. Rep. Burton, as Chair of the

House Committee on Government Reform and chair of the Subcommittee on Human

Rights and Wellness from 1997 through 2004 held nealry two dozen hearings on

vaccine safety and helped bring parental concerns about the association

between vaccines and autism to national prominence. Rep. Burton's only

grandson received multiple vaccines on the same day and regressed into

autism.

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) congratulates Rep. Burton

on introducing H.R. 1349 and endorses his effort, along with co-sponsor,

Rep. Pallone, to help parents of vaccine injured children receive the

compensation they were promised by Congress nearly 20 years ago.

MEDIA ADVISORY

OFFICE OF CONGRESSMAN DAN BURTON

FIFTH DISTRICT, INDIANA

2185 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515

(202)-225-2276 FAX (202)-225-0016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MARCH 16, 2005

REP. BURTON INTRODUCES NATIONAL VACCINE INJURY COMPENSATION PROGRAM

IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2005

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN-5), formally introduced the

National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Improvement Act of 2005 (H.R.

1349) in the U.S. House of Representatives last night.

" The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) was designed back in 1988

to be a non-adversarial alternative to civil litigation, " stated Congressman

Burton. " Seventeen years later, the reality is that the system has become

quite litigious and there are some serious problems with the program. I am

re-introducing this important legislation to address the fairness and

accessibility issues vaccine-injured families are facing. "

Continued Congressman Burton, " Specifically, my legislation seeks to amend

the current VICP rules by extending the statute of limitations, increasing

the base amount of funding available to those injured, and providing a

critical two-year look back provision for families who previously missed the

filing deadlines. "

The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Improvement Act of 2005

(H.R. 1349) is tri-partisan legislation - currently with a dozen

co-sponsors - that builds upon recommendations to improve the VICP as

outlined by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Advisory

Commission on Childhood Vaccines. The bill seeks to:

· Extend the statute of limitations for seeking compensation to six

years from the date of injury. Under current law, families must file within

two years of a child's death or three years of a child's injury.

· Provide a one-time, two-year period for families with post-1988

injuries to file a petition if they were previously excluded from doing so

because they missed the statute of limitations.

· Allow for the payment of interim attorney's fees and legal costs

while a petition is being adjudicated. The costs of assembling the

necessary medical records and obtaining expert witnesses are substantial.

Under current law, these costs, as well as attorney's fees, are not

reimbursed until a case is fully resolved, which oftentimes takes three to

seven years. Some cases have taken ten years to resolve and for

reimbursements to be made.

· Increase compensation for future lost earnings for injured

children. Under current law, compensation is based on the average weekly

earnings of full and part-time workers as determined by the Bureau of Labor

Statistics. This bill would specify that only full-time workers should be

used in the calculation.

· Increase the level of compensation to a family after a

vaccine-related death from $250,000 to $300,000. The death benefit has

remained unchanged since the program's inception fifteen years ago.

· Allow for families of vaccine-injured children to be compensated

for the costs of family counseling.

· Create and maintain a guardianship to administer the funds.

During his tenure as Chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform

(1997-2002) and the Subcommittee on Human Rights & Wellness (2003-2004),

Congressman Burton held no fewer than 20 hearings to examine the possible

correlation between mercury-containing vaccines and the increasing incidents

of autism. Despite the growing body of evidence suggesting such an

association is real, many in our Federal health agencies continue to dispute

this conclusion. Scientific evidence aside, the numbers simply do not lie.

Although autism used to be a rare disease affecting only 1 out of every

10,000 individuals, it now afflicts 1.5 million Americans nationwide.

Furthermore, autism is not a fatal disease. Therefore, the families of

autistic individuals are facing high-priced medical care for years to come

with little to no assistance.

Concluded Congressman Burton, " By enacting these common-sense reforms, we

can make sure the VICP operates as it was intended to, as a flexible,

non-adversarial system that handles claims in an efficient and generous

manner so as to avoid the need for civil litigation. I believe creating a

stronger VICP is a win-win solution for everyone involved. The families of

those afflicted with vaccine injuries will have a fair and user-friendly

venue to seek some means of restitution, and pharmaceutical companies will

no longer be under the shadow of the threat of costly and potentially

industry-crippling class-action lawsuits. Embracing this solution would be

good for the industry as well as society. "

" The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has helped thousands of

Americans who have suffered injuries from vaccines, however, there are many

families and individuals that continue to suffer unnecessarily, " said

Congressman Pallone, Jr., the lead Democratic co-sponsor. " I am proud

to support this legislation because it will improve the current system and

ensure fair and timely recourse for the devastating events that can result

from vaccinations. "

The Department of Health and Human Services, upon reviewing the

recommendations of the CDC's Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines,

submitted suggested legislation in 1999, which the Bush administration has

since endorsed. H.R. 1349 incorporates most of these recommendations, as

well as other recommendations that were put forth during the course of

Congressman Burton's six year investigation.

For more information regarding Congressman Burton's legislative and

investigative efforts on Federal vaccine policy, please visit the designated

healthcare page on his website at www.house.gov/burton/wellness.

Nick Mutton

Press Secretary

Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN-5)

2185 Rayburn HOB

Washington, DC 20515

202.225.2276 - office

202.225.0016 - fax

202.225.9560 - cell

www.house.gov/burton

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