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Phyllis Widman, Esq. is admitted to file claims for vaccine related injuries occurring in the State of Illinois. The admission to practice in the Court of Federal Claims, the Court in which vaccine injury claims are heard, allows attorneys such as Phyllis Widman, Esq. to bring vaccine injury claims in all 50 states and D.C., including Illinois. Whether you are in Chicago, Springfield, Rockford, Aurora, Joliet, Naperville, Elgin, Peoria, Champaign, or anywhere in between, Widman Law Firm is ready to provide you with high quality legal representation for your vaccine injury claim across the state of Illinois.
The Vaccine Injury Compensation ProgramIn the late 1970’s and early 80’s, a number of lawsuits alleging permanent injuries in children had been filed against Pertussis vaccine manufacturers. By 1985, every manufacturer in the U.S. except for one had ceased production of that vaccine. In response to the falling vaccination rate, in 1986, the U.S. Government passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act: a tort legislature that protects vaccine manufacturers from liability in the event of injuries arising from a vaccine.
This Act established the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, or VICP - the program by which injured people could be compensated for their damages, lost wages and medical expenses.
Funded by a tax of 75 cents taken from every vaccine purchase and allocated to the program, the VICP has awarded over $4.4 BILLION dollars to vaccine-injured petitioners to date. As of 2017, the program includes 14 adverse reactions to 17 different vaccines. Those injuries include:
- SIRVA, or Shoulder Injury as a Result of Vaccine Administration:
- GBS, or Guillain-Barre Syndrome:
- CIDP, or Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy:
- ADEM, or Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis:
- Death;
- And more
Some of the routinely administered vaccines covered by the VICP:
- Seasonal flu shot
- MMR (Measels, Mumps, Rubella)
- Hepatitis B
- Human papillomavirus (HPV)
- Combinations of the Diptheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis vaccines (DTP, DTaP, Tdap, DT, Td, TT)
- Polio
- Varicella (chickenpox)
- And more
To qualify for compensation from the VICP, a case must meet the following three criteria: the injury must have been caused by a vaccine covered under the VICP; the injury itself must be on the Vaccine Injury Table; and the injury must have occurred within a certain timeframe.
The VICP, also known as the Office of Special Masters, is a division of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Being a legal system, it is best to proceed with a specialized personal injury lawyer - though one may reserve the right to represent themselves if desired. Due to the national jurisdiction of vaccine court, cases are heard from all over the nation, and are therefore almost always handled via video conference without needing to physically appear in court. Further, the VICP pays petitioners’ legal fees (or costs, if they represent themselves) so they can keep 100% of their awarded compensation.
VICP injury awards include: up to $250,000 for pain and suffering; uncapped reimbursement of medical and projected cost of living expenses; and reimbursement of lost income. If a vaccine injury resulted in death, the estate of the injured may receive a death benefit of up to $250,000.
The Countermeasures Injury Compensation ProgramAnticipating lawsuits against medical devices, medicines, and vaccines hastily developed in times of emergency, drug companies lobbied in Washington for special protections. In 2005, the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness, or PREP, Act was passed, absolving manufacturers of liability relating to the “manufacture, testing, development, distribution, administration and use of medical countermeasures against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents of terrorism, epidemics, and pandemics.”
Most recently, one such countermeasure covered under the CICP has been the COVID-19 vaccine.
Similar to how the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act established the VICP, the PREP Act established the CICP: a system to compensate the individuals damaged by emergency countermeasures. While the CICP is not a legal system like the VICP, it is still recommended to proceed with a vaccine injury attorney qualified to navigate the program. However, this program does not reimburse claimants’ attorneys fees.
Compensation under the CICP includes up to $379,000 in lost income (limited to $50,000 per year) and the payment of “reasonable” medical costs, past, present and future, related to the countermeasure injury. If a death occurred from a countermeasure-related injury, the estate of the deceased may be awarded up to $370,000.
Experienced Vaccine Lawyers Who Will Fight for YOUAdvances in immunization have been some of our greatest medical achievements, and getting vaccinated is an important and necessary practice - but statistically, there is unfortunately always a cost. Some people injured by vaccines make a full recovery in a few months, while some may never return to work and others may never return to living a normal life. Vaccine injury is real, it’s terrifying, and in some cases it’s completely debilitating, despite claims to the contrary.
At Widman Law Firm, we specialize in vaccine injury cases first and foremost. With years of trial experience and millions of dollars won for clients, Phyllis Widman and her associates are prepared to fight until you get what’s rightfully yours.
Call or email us today for a free consultation, and find out how we can file your vaccine injury claim in the VICP, or your COVID-19 countermeasure injury claim in the CICP.
