Bush administration already offers it in war on terrorism
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 —
While senators debate shielding childhood vaccine makers from
lawsuits, the Bush administration already has provided such
protection for at least two vaccines key to the war on terrorism
— smallpox and anthrax.
A move this week to reduce liability for vaccine makers — whether
their shots are used to fight terrorism or not — by the
GOP-controlled House in legislation creating a Homeland Security
Department has brought strong opposition from several Senate
Democrats.
WITH
LITTLE FANFARE, President Bush used an executive order to immunize
smallpox vaccine makers from lawsuits, officials say. Under an order
he issued after last year’s Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the
Department of Health and Human Services can take on liability for
companies it contracts with to fight terrorism.
So far, the department has indemnified two companies
providing smallpox vaccine — Wyeth and Aventis Pasteur — and is
working on an arrangement with a third contractor, Acambis Baxter,
agency spokesman Bill Pierce said Friday. That means that if someone
sues for negligence over the vaccine, the department assumes
liability rather than the manufacturer.
“We have asked them to do this for us for a program that we
are running and managing,” Pierce said. “So, therefore, instead of
them holding the risk, we’re holding the risk, since we are the ones
driving this.”
The smallpox vaccine hasn’t been administered in the United
States in years, and the companies are back in the business of
providing it only because the government asked, Pierce said. The
department isn’t taking on liability for the maker of Cipro or other
anthrax treatments because those products were already in the
marketplace, he said.
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Other
government agencies involved in national defense have long had the
power to indemnify contractors; the Department of Defense, for
example, has granted indemnity to Bioport, the maker of an anthrax
vaccine. Bush’s executive order added the health department to the
law allowing it.
PROTECTING VACCINE
MAKERS
While that drew little attention, a move this week to reduce
liability for vaccine makers — whether their shots are used to fight
terrorism or not — by the GOP-controlled House in legislation
creating a Homeland Security Department has brought strong
opposition from several Senate Democrats.
They promised Friday to try to take that provision out of the
bill, and accused Republicans of providing a last-minute reward to
the pharmaceutical industry, a major GOP political donor.
“Does this have anything at all to do with homeland security?
The answer is no,” said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. “This is bad
legislation.”
Smallpox's
rise and fall
Time line of a scourge
1754-1767
British forces in North America distribute tainted
blankets to "disaffected tribes," marking first use of
smallpox as an intentional weapon.
1796
Edward Jenner demonstrates that cowpox inoculation can
guard against smallpox.
1967
World Health Organization launches global vaccination
campaign against smallpox.
1971
Smallpox's eradication leads U.S. to discontinue routine
vaccination.
1977
Last naturally occurring case of smallpox reported in
Somalia.
1980
WHO certifies that the world is free of naturally
occurring smallpox. Soviets begin to develop smallpox as a
bioweapon.
1982
Vaccine production is discontinued in the United States.
1990
U.S. military discontinues routine vaccinations.
Today
Smallpox vaccinations are generally limited to selected
lab workers and military personnel.
They drew support from at
least one Republican, Rep. Dan Burton of Indiana, chairman of the
House Government Reform Committee. Burton was unaware of the
provision when he voted for the measure Wednesday and wants it
removed, spokesman Blain Rethmeier said.
“Instead of passing legislation to take away the rights of
families with vaccine-injured children, we should be passing
legislation to try to help them,” Burton said Friday in a written
statement.
The Association of Trial Lawyers of America, a major
Democratic donor, also was lobbying to have the provision removed.
AUTISM LAWSUITS
ATLA spokesman Carlton Carl said it would directly affect
parents who believe a child’s autism was caused by Thimerosal, a
mercury-containing ingredient that used to be a component of several
childhood vaccines, Carl said.
The provision would require those who wish to sue former
makers of Thimerosal such as Eli Lilly to instead pursue their
claims through a federal vaccine compensation program that caps
damages at $250,000, Carl said. Medical research has not established
a link between autism and Thimerosal, but many parents believe the
ingredient may be to blame and are suing manufacturers.
“Ask a parent of an autistic child if $250,000 is going to
take care of that child’s needs for the rest of his life and you
will probably hear that absolutely not,” Carl said.
Richard Diamond, a spokesman for retiring House Majority
Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, lead sponsor of the homeland security
legislation, said the provision affects pharmaceutical companies
beyond those who made Thimerosal and does have national security
implications.
Diamond said that under the provision, if an ingredient is
listed on a vaccine label, the manufacturer cannot be held liable
for something that happens as a consequence of the ingredient. It’s
up to the physician prescribing the vaccine to weigh the dangers
involved, he said.
“We put that in there because if these companies are being
sued by trial lawyers, they are going to be reluctant to put
lifesaving medicines on the market,” Diamond said.
The White House and Republican leaders in the House and
Senate supported the provision, which first appeared in a proposal
earlier this year by Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., though Frist did not
add it to the homeland security legislation, Diamond said.
Diamond declined to say who first sought to have it added to
the bill.
“There’s a lot of stuff that gets thrown into the mix,”
Diamond said. “We’ll take ultimate responsibility for it.”
Eli Lilly spokesman Edward Sagebiel said the company sought
the language when Frist first proposed his vaccine legislation, but
had not lobbied on it since. The Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America also supported Frist’s bill but did not
lobby to have the vaccine provision added to the homeland security
bill, spokeswoman Jackie Cottrell said.
ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND
MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION
PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS
OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR
LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND
COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH
YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.
"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"
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