Hearing Notice:                                 Contact: Mark Corallo/ Beth Frigola
                December 10, 2001                                                 (202) 225-5074

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 Dustin's vaccine-related injuries.  Following a childhood vaccination, Dustin 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  When the court agreed to award compensation to the family in 1999, the government insisted that the ruling not be published so that the precedent could not help other families with similar cases.     

Joseph Holder, of Denville, New Jersey, will testify regarding his son, Brandon, 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 
Joseph Holder, Denville, New Jersey

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

Clifford J. Shoemaker, Petitioner's Attorney  

Panel 2:        Thomas Balbier, Director, Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, HHS

Paul Harris, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, DOJ

John L. Euler, Deputy Director, National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, DOJ

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