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December 13, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"U.S. Lawmakers Against Curbs on Suing Vaccine Firms"

Reuters (www.reuters.com) (12/11/02); Fox, Maggie; Kenen, Joanne

A provision attached to the Homeland Security Act that protects drug manufacturers from lawsuits filed by people who believe they may have experienced critical or fatal adverse reactions to vaccines or who claim to have developed a condition they believe is linked to the vaccine has resulted in an outcry from vaccine critics and some members of the House and Senate.  The authors of the provision say it is meant only to ensure the continued production of vaccines to protect children against measles, mumps, rubella, meningitis, chickenpox, tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough, polio, hepatitis and pneumococcal disease; only four companies still routinely manufacture them.  Last year, there was a severe nationwide shortage of vaccines, so the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is currently trying to determine if that shortage created a significantly higher number of disease cases that would have not occurred had all children received the necessary vaccines.  In the meantime, members of both political parties have taken up the cause and have vowed to remove the provision they say is a gift to drug companies.

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