SYNOPSIS
This independent author team investigated published cases where the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) had made awards based on a finding of vaccine injury and brain injury. They describe the Omnibus Autism Proceeding (OAP), in which the Special Masters of the Federal Court of Claims rejected six test cases and two theories of causation, thereby rejecting the injury claims of close to 5,000 individuals with autism. Their research efforts uncovered numerous cases that had been compensated outside the OAP. The authors noted that “this preliminary study suggests that the VICP has been compensating cases of vaccine-induced encephalopathy and residual seizure disorder associated with autism since the inception of the program. Through this preliminary study, the authors have found eighty-three cases of autism among those compensated for vaccine-induced brain damage. This finding raises fundamental questions about the integrity, transparency, and fairness of this forum.”
TITLE
Unanswered Questions from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program: A Review of Compensated Cases of Vaccine-Induced Brain Injury (May 10, 2011).
CITATION
Mary Holland, Louis and Conte, Robert Krakow, and Lisa Colin, “Unanswered Questions from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program: A Review of Compensated Cases of Vaccine-Induced Brain Injury,” Pace Environmental Law (PELR) Review, Vol. 28, No. 2, 2011, NYU School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 11-34.