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Phyllis Widman, Esq. is admitted to file claims for vaccine related injuries occurring in the State of Texas. 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 Texas. Whether you are in Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Waco, or anywhere in between, Widman Law Firm is ready to provide you and your family with high quality legal representation for your vaccine injury claim across the state of Texas.
The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP)In 1988, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund, or VICP, was established to shield vaccine manufacturers from liability in the wake of an uptick in lawsuits. As of 2023, the VICP has paid out over $4.4 BILLION dollars in compensation to vaccine-injured claimants. Designed as a federal no-fault system, the VICP is designed to compensate individuals whose injuries fall under the Vaccine Injury Table. That injury table was expanded in 2017 to include 14 possible adverse reactions to 17 different routine inoculations.
Some of those reactions include:
- SIRVA, or Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration, which is the most common injury in the VICP and includes a wide range of injuries;
- ADEM, or Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis, an auto-immune neurological condition which affects the brain and spine;
- GBS, or Guillain-Barré Syndrome, an auto-immune disorder which affects the nerves and results in varying levels of paralysis;
- CIDP, or Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy, often referred to as the chronic counterpart to GBS;
- Death;
- And others
To qualify for compensation in the VICP, cases must meet three requirements: the vaccine responsible for the alleged injury is on the vaccine injury table; the alleged injury is a known possible adverse reaction of the vaccine in question; and the alleged injury occurred within the specified timeframe.
While filing a claim in the VICP is a legal process, because the vaccine court hears cases from all over the country, cases are almost always handled without ever stepping inside a courtroom. Instead, video and telephone conferences take the place of in-person hearings. The VICP also pays claimants' attorneys fees, to ensure that vaccine injury attorneys never take a portion of their much-needed compensation.
Compensation in the VICP can include: an award for pain and suffering sustained as a result of vaccine injury, up to $250,000; an award for past and future medical expenses relating to treatment and care of the injury, as well as cost-of-living expenses; and/or compensation for lost wages. In the case of a death resulting from a vaccine, a death benefit of up to $250,000 may be awarded to the estate of the deceased.
The Countermeasures Injury Compensation ProgramIn 2005, the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act was signed into law by George W. Bush. The PREP Act gives immunity from liability to medical device, drug, and vaccine manufacturers in times of a public health crisis. Like the VICP protects the makers of common vaccines, the PREP Act makes it so that people injured by emergency countermeasures - such as the COVID-19 vaccine - are unable to sue the manufacturers of those countermeasures directly.
Instead, injured claimants must go through a system created in tandem with the PREP Act, known as the CICP: the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program.
Unlike the VICP, the CICP is not a legal system; however, the handling, processing, and filing of a CICP claim is still better handled by a specialized personal injury attorney. Unfortunately, also unlike the VICP, the CICP does not reimburse attorneys fees.
While the CICP does not pay out for pain and suffering, the program will pay up to $379,000 in lost wages (capped at $50,000 per year) as well as medical expenses related to the injury. In the event of a death from a covered countermeasure, the estate of the deceased can receive up to $370,000 in compensation.
Experienced Vaccine Lawyers Who Will Fight for YOUSince the beginning, Widman Law Firm has fought for its clients - and the results will speak to that. Our lawyers have won millions of dollars in compensation for those injured by vaccines and vaccine administrations, money which is currently going to our clients’ cost of living, medical expenses, and peace of mind.
If you or someone you love was a victim of a vaccine injury, don’t wait. There’s a strict statute of limitations of three years to file in the VICP, and only ONE year to file in the CICP. Contact us today to find out how we can file your claim in the VICP or the CICP before the statute is up regarding your case.
