The Associated Press

WASHINGTON April 9 —

A Senate committee Wednesday abruptly dropped plans to move legislation overhauling a program to compensate children injured by vaccines, raising questions about whether a bipartisan deal was unraveling.

The legislation would nullify hundreds of lawsuits claiming injury and send them to a special fund established to handle these sort of claims.

The meeting was canceled just moments after aides announced a compromise had been reached on the measure. Senate aides gave conflicting explanations: GOP aides said there were not enough members present to conduct business, but Democrats suspected it had more to do with objections to a compromise lodged by two of the four major manufacturers of vaccines.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who led negotiations for Democrats, said he was disappointed.

"We have worked very hard to work out a compromise to the satisfaction of almost everyone here," Dodd said.

Under the legislation, more than 200 lawsuits filed by families who believe their children were injured by vaccines would be sent instead to a special federal fund.

Senators led by Frist say these cases always were intended for the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, and Democrats generally agree.

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 this year using standard legislative procedures.

Childhood vaccines are safe for almost all children, 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 may 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 were 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 said in 2001 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.

The bill also improves the fund for families filing claims in several ways. It would increase maximum amounts available for pain and suffering from $250,000 to $350,000, 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, allow parents to file independent claims based on their children's suffering.

Under the deal reached late Tuesday with Dodd, Republicans agreed to give families a one-year window to enter the fund, even if they are outside the new, six-year deadline for filing claims. That includes those with court claims pending and those who never filed a case with a court or the fund.

A Democratic aide, who asked not to be identified, said that Merck and Wyeth, two of the four major vaccine manufacturers, opposed the compromise as being too generous to families. They wanted a stricter statute of limitations.

The aide added that lobbyists for vaccine manufacturer Aventis and pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly supported the compromise. Lilly is the manufacturer of thimerosal and is facing several lawsuits that would be moved to the fund under this bill.

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