re: What's your view on vaccinations?

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2) Vaccine manufacturer's cannot be taken to court if they make a bad product. They are protected in this country. So if you get a bad vaccine and get sick or die, nobody can sue or go after the vaccine maker.

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Allegations and confirmed instances of vaccine injuries in recent decades have appeared in litigation in the United States. Some families have won substantial awards from sympathetic juries, even though many public health officials have said that the claims of injuries are unfounded.[1] In response, several vaccine makers stopped production, threatening public health, and laws were passed to shield makers from liabilities stemming from vaccine injury claims.

Vaccine Injury Compensation Program[edit] In 1988, the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) went into effect to compensate individuals and families of individuals who have been injured by covered childhood vaccines.[6] The VICP was adopted in response to an earlier scare over the pertussis portion of the DPT vaccine. These claims were later generally discredited, but some U.S. lawsuits against vaccine makers won substantial awards; most makers ceased production, and the last remaining major manufacturer threatened to do so.

Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Procedure & Legal Requirements[edit]

The VICP uses a no-fault, stream-lined system for litigating vaccine injury claims.[7] Claims that are denied can be pursued through civil lawsuits, though this is rare. The VICP covers all vaccines listed on the Vaccine Injury Table[8] which is maintained by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. To win an award, a claimant is only required to show a causal connection between an injury and one of the vaccines listed in the Vaccine Injury Table. Compensation is payable for “table” injuries, those listed in the Vaccine Injury Table, as well as, “non-table” injuries, injuries not listed in the table.[9]

In addition, an award may only be given if the claimant’s injury lasted for more than 6 months after the vaccine was given, resulted in a hospital stay and surgery or resulted in death. Awards are based on medical expenses, lost earnings and pain and suffering (capped at $250,000).[10]

From 1988 until March 3, 2011, 5,636 claims relating to autism, and 8,119 non-autism claims, were made to the VICP. 2,620 of these claims, one autism-related, were compensated, with 4,463 non-autism and 814 autism claims dismissed; awards (including attorney's fees) totaled over $2 billion. The VICP also applies to claims for injuries suffered before 1988; there were 4,264 of these claims of which 1,189 were compensated with awards totaling $903 million.[8] As of August 2014, over 2,000 individuals have been paid nearly $2 billion since the VICP began in 1988.[7]

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