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Established on October 1, 1988, the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) was set up to compensate individuals who suffered a specified adverse event from a vaccination administered from that day forward.

Claims are brought before Vaccine Court, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims that decides who will be compensated for their injuries and the validity of their claim.

If Vaccine Court is a No-Fault alternative to the traditional tort system, where do the compensation funds come from?

Vaccine Injury claims are paid from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Trust Fund, managed by the U.S. Department of Treasury.

The Vaccine Injury Compensation Trust Fund receives its money from a 75 cent excise tax on vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for routine administration to children.

The excise tax is imposed on each dose, or preventable disease of a given vaccination. For example, a Trivalent flu vaccine is taxed $0.75 because it prevents one disease: The Flu. The MMR, measles-mumps-rubella vaccine prevents three diseases, thus is taxed $2.25.

One Comment

  1. Gravatar for Parent of VICP recipient
    Parent of VICP recipient

    Sadly, there won't be any more "traditional tort system relief" for anyone with a vaccine injury. The U.S. Supreme Court took our rights away from that potential avenue in October 2010 with their ruling in BRUESEWITZ ET AL. v. WYETH LLC. The ONLY recourse now is VICP, but I believe they've lost their incentive to settle with this particular ruling.

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/09-152.pdf

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