Widman Law Firm is admitted and able to file claims for vaccine related injuries taking place in the State of Wisconsin. The admission required to bring vaccine injury claims in front of the Court of Federal Claims, where vaccine injury claims are heard, is a federal admission. Therefore, Phyllis Widman, Esq. is fully admitted and prepared to bring vaccine injury claims originating in all 50 states and D.C., including Wisconsin. Whether you are in Madison, Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, Green Bay, Appleton, or anywhere in between, the capable and astute team at Widman Law Firm is fully prepared to provide you and your family with high quality legal representation for your vaccine injury claim.
The Vaccine Injury Compensation ProgramDuring the mid-1980’s, parents had been alleging for the past decade that the pertussis vaccine was the source of permanent brain injury in their children, and the media was having a field day with the story. The litigation and negative publicity combined to create profit losses for drug companies, which largely decided to scrap production of the vaccine. In response, the United States Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. This Act protects vaccine manufacturers from lawsuits in the event of vaccine injuries and, by mitigating those manufacturers’ financial risks, aims to facilitate the uninterrupted production of immunizations.
However, with financial responsibility removed from the drug companies, vaccine-injured people needed another avenue by which to receive compensation for their damages. It was for this reason that the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) was created.
A division of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the VICP is a tax-funded program that has awarded over $4.4 BILLION dollars in compensation to victims of vaccine injury.
To qualify for compensation by the VICP, a claimant must have received one of the routine immunizations covered by the program. Some of those immunizations include:
The claimant must also have sustained an injury recognized by the VICP as a possible adverse reaction to the given vaccine, as listed on the Vaccine Injury Table. Some of those injuries include:
Being that the VICP functions as a legal claims process, it is highly advised that one proceed with an experienced vaccine injury attorney, though it is possible for one to exercise their right to represent themselves. Additionally, the VICP commonly reimburses attorneys’ fees (or legal costs if self-represented), provided the claim was not made fraudulently.
Compensation from the VICP can include: a pain and suffering award, up to $250,000; reimbursement of lost wages and medical expenses; and an uncapped award for projected cost of living expenses. For vaccine-related deaths, a death benefit not to exceed $250,000 may be available to the family of the deceased.
The Countermeasures Injury Compensation ProgramSimilar to how the VICP was established to compensate victims of vaccine injury, the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP) was created to compensate people damaged by “emergency countermeasures”. A medical countermeasure is defined as a drug or device used to combat a public health emergency resulting from a biological, chemical, or radiological terrorist attack, or an epidemic or pandemic. While the CICP would receive few claims for countermeasures designed to fight biological or chemical warfare, the program has seen a sharp uptick in claims in recent years for countermeasures developed against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over 95% of claims filed in the CICP have been related to COVID-19 countermeasures.
The coronavirus vaccine is the most represented countermeasure in the CICP.
Unlike the VICP, the CICP is not a legal process. It is, however, still recommended to proceed with a knowledgeable and specialized attorney capable of navigating the program. Compensation from the CICP can include: up to $379,000 reimbursement of lost income; reimbursement of medical costs; and projected cost-of-living expenses. The CICP is also authorized to award a death benefit of up to $370,000 if a death arose from a medical countermeasure.
Experienced Vaccine Lawyers Who Will Fight for YOUImmunization is a vital and necessary practice in modern life, but as a science, it isn’t perfect. Vaccine injuries can and do occur, and they can be far more severe than we are often told. If you or a loved one was a victim of injury from a vaccine or medical countermeasure, the team at Widman Law Firm is here to help you get the financial compensation you deserve.
Call or send us an email to find out more about how we can file your vaccine injury claim in the VICP, or your COVID-19 countermeasure claim in the CICP, today.
Don’t wait: there is a strict time limit which claims must be filed in: 3 years from the first onset of injury symptoms to file in the VICP, and only ONE year from the administration of a countermeasure to file in the CICP.