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March 18, 2003
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A COMMITMENT TO THE VACCINE INJURED IS KEPT:
BURTON TO INTRODUCE "VACCINE INJURY COMPENSATION PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2003"
Washington, D.C. - At the end of the 107th Congress, a commitment was made in both the House and Senate to address problems with the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) within the first six months of the 108th Congress. On Wednesday, March 19, 2003, at 2:30 p.m. in Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN-5), Chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness will introduce the "National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Improvement Act of 2003."
The NVICP Improvement Act, which is a product of a three-year investigation of the House Committee on Government Reform, seeks to amend the current VICP by extending the statute of limitations, increasing the base amount of funding available to those injured, and providing for a critical two-year look back provision for families who previously missed filing deadlines.
Said Burton, "The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was designed back in 1988 to be a non-adversarial alternative to civil litigation. Fifteen years later, the reality is that there are some serious problems with the program. I am re-introducing this legislation, specifically, to address the fairness and accessibility issues vaccine-injured families are facing."
The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Improvement Act of 2003 is bipartisan legislation that would build on recommendations to improve the program put forward by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines. The bill would:
§ 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 3-7 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 15 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.
The Department of Health and Human Services, upon the recommendations of the CDC's Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines, submitted suggested legislation in 1999, which the Bush administration has since endorsed. The bill incorporates most of these recommendations, as well as other recommendations that were put forth through the Government Reform Committee's investigative and hearing process.
The press conference will be held on Wednesday, March 19, 2003, at 2:30 p.m. in Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building, and will be open to the public. *Please note: Only individuals with House press credentials will be permitted to bring electronic recording devices. For more information on this investigation please go to the Government Reform Committee website at www.house.gov/reform <http://www.house.gov/reform> and click on the link to the 107th Congress.
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