12/12/01 Hearing: Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

[Guest guest]

Hearing Notice: Contact: Mark Corallo/ Beth Frigola

December 10, 2001

Committee to Hold Second Oversight Hearing on

The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

New Mexico, New Jersey & Tennessee families to testify about a

program that has grown too adversarial

WHO: House Government Reform Committee

Dan Burton (R-IN), Chairman

WHAT: Full Committee Hearing -

" The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program:

Is It Working as Congress Intended? Part II "

WHEN: Wednesday, December 12, 2001

1:00 p.m.

WHERE: 2154 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington D.C. - The House Government Reform Committee will hold its second

hearing to review the U.S. Department of Justice's and the Department of

Health and Human Services' implementation of the Vaccine Injury Compensation

Program (VICP) on Wednesday, December 12, 2001.

Lori Barton, of New Mexico, will testify Wednesday about her eight-year

ordeal seeking compensation from the federal government for her son 's

vaccine-related injuries. Following a childhood vaccination,

suffered a severe reaction, including seizures and blindness. After the

family endured hostile cross-examinations from government attorneys and

years of delays, her son died of a massive seizure in 1997. When the court

agreed to award compensation to the family in 1999, the government insisted

that the ruling not be published so that the precedent could not help other

families with similar cases.

ph Holder, of Denville, New Jersey, will testify regarding his son,

, who received his 2nd DTP vaccination on July 10, 1992. Within 6

hours he had his first grand mal seizure. (His seizures continue to this

day uncontrolled). It took the Holder family two years to find an attorney

who would take a vaccine injury case. The case was filed in October 1994.

Although the case was a classic " table injury case " which should have lead

to a quick resolution, it was not settled in the family's favor until

September 1999. The family received compensation in July 2000.

Tara Dyer, of Knoxville, Tennessee, will testify that in 1992, her

two-month-old son, Andy suffered an adverse reaction shortly after receiving

the DTP vaccine. He developed a residual seizure disorder, and will require

care the rest of his life. The Dyer family filed a claim in 1994. Several

years later, the claim was rejected after the Government argued that the

evidence of a causal relationship was inconclusive.

On November 1, the Committee held its first hearing on this subject, at

which Members heard testimony from three other witnesses who had sought

compensation through the program. In each case, Government attorneys

vigorously opposed offering compensation, and were overruled by Special

Masters overseeing the cases. In two of the cases, the Government appealed

the rulings. Each case dragged on for more than eight years. The witnesses

testified about the difficulties they experienced seeking compensation

through the program.

WITNESSES:

Panel 1: Lori Barton, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Tara Dyer, Knoxville, Tennessee

ph Holder, Denville, New Jersey

Block, M.D., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Chairman, Vaccine Advisory

Commission

Clifford J. Shoemaker, Petitioner's Attorney

Panel 2: Balbier, Director, Vaccine Injury Compensation

Program, HHS

, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, DOJ

L. Euler, Deputy Director, National Vaccine Injury Compensation

Program, DOJ