Bill Would Force Out Autism Lawsuits

[Guest christie]

Bill Would Force Out Autism Lawsuits

 

April 8, 2003 05:41 PM EDT

 

http://start.earthlink.net/newsarticle?cat...D7Q9L03O0_story

 

WASHINGTON - More than 200 lawsuits that claim a link between childhood

vaccines and autism would be forced out of court under legislation set for

action in the Senate.

 

Instead, claimants would have to seek compensation through a special

federal fund established to consider vaccine injury claims.

 

Backers of the bill, including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, say these

cases always had been supposed to go to the Vaccine Injury Compensation

Program, but a loophole allowed families to skirt the system and press their

claims in court.

 

The issue became contentious late last year, when Republicans quietly

slipped the change at the last minute into homeland security legislation.

Under pressure, lawmakers undid the move in subsequent legislation, but

vowed to try again using standard procedures.

 

The measure is to be considered Wednesday by the Senate Health,

Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Democrats led by Sen.

Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., were working toward an agreement with Frist,

R-Tenn.

 

Childhood vaccines are safe for the almost all children who receive them,

but a small number are injured each year. Under current law, injured families

must file claims first with the compensation fund, where cases are

independently evaluated, before going to court. Average awards are just

under $1 million.

 

If someone's claim is denied, or if the monetary award is considered

unsatisfactory, a lawsuit can be filed in federal or state courts.

 

Some families have found a way to skip the compensation fund and go

directly to court by claiming their children are harmed by a vaccine's

ingredients, rather than by the vaccine itself.

 

Specifically, many contend their children's autism is caused by a

preservative called thimerosal, which contains mercury and once was used

in the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine.

 

The Institute of Medicine, which gives expert advice to Congress, reviewed

the issue and in 2001 said it found no proof that autism is caused by the

MMR vaccine or by thimerosal. The report did say a link between thimerosal

and an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders is medically

plausible.

 

In any case, Frist, a physician, argues that these cases should have gone

through the compensation fund first, like other vaccine-related claims. He

blames trial lawyers for exploiting a loophole in the law and says his bill

would help stem "out-of-control lawsuits."

 

He noted that there are only two vaccine manufacturers in the United States

and just four worldwide because vaccines produce so little profit. The threat

of lawsuits will drive even more companies out of the business, he argued.

 

"That exposure over time simply drives off any prudent manufacturer," he

said.

 

Last week, Sen. Edward Kennedy, the committee's top Democrat, derided

the bill for nullifying families' court cases overnight.

 

"Whether you believe these claims have merit or not, this massive

pre-emption of the states and the rights of families who believe their children

were injured by vaccines cannot be justified without giving them adequate

alternatives," he said in a statement last week.

 

Congressional aides were hopeful for agreement before the bill is

considered in committee.

 

"There's been a good-faith effort to find common ground on this issue, but

the bottom line is, children and their families need to come first," Dodd said

in a statement Tuesday. "We've made great progress, but we still have a

ways to go."

 

A Republican aide, describing the bill, said it would improve the fund for

families filing claims in several ways. He said it would increase maximum

amounts available for pain and suffering from $250,000 to $350,000, would

increase the statute of limitations for filing claims from three years to six

years after the onset of the injury and for the first time would allow parents to

file independent claims based on their children's suffering.

 

One issue that had yet to be resolved was whether families that have lost in

court on technical grounds could go into the fund. Dodd was pushing for a

one-year amnesty that would allow all families to file compensation claims.

 

The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program is financed by a 75-cent fee on

each childhood vaccine administered.

 

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On the Net: Compensation program:

http://www.hrsa.gov/osp/vicp/fact(underscore)sheet.htm

[Ziam]

seems i read that parents protested and progress has been made with this? can anyone give me an update? i don't have a vaccine damaged child (at least never connected the dots if that's part of his problem) but would like to know how this politics played out. ziam