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Vaccine court
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vaccine court is a euphemism which refers to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. In 1986, the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act established a no-fault system for litigating claims against vaccine manufacturers. Under this law, all claims against vaccine manufacturers could not be heard in state or federal court, but had to be heard rather in the U.S Court of Federal Claims. This court, often referred to as the “vaccine court,” hears cases without juries and awards damages that typically are far below damage awards rendered in other courts. The damage amounts are often insufficient to compensate severely injured children.
In March of 2006, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that plaintiffs suing three manufactures of thiomersal could bypass the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (the so called “vaccine court”) and litigate in either state or federal court utilizing the ordinary channels for recovery in tort. Holder v. Abbott Laboratories Inc., 444 F.3d 383. The ruling is significant since this is the first instance where a federal appeals court has held that a suit of this nature may bypass the “vaccine court.” The 5th circuit court reached its conclusion by first looking to the statutory intent of the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act and determining that the intent of the statute was to protect the manufacturers of vaccines. In this case, thiomersal is not a vaccine, but a preservative and as such, the manufactures of this preservative cannot share in the protection afforded by the no-fault regime ushered in by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act.