Health Officials Will Allow Smallpox Compensation Claims

By David McGlinchey
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Health and Human Services Department is expected to publish an interim document tomorrow to allow civilian smallpox vaccine recipients to receive compensation if they were made ill by the vaccine (see GSN, April 14).

In April, U.S. lawmakers passed a bill to provide compensation for those who fell ill or died as a result of the immunization but claims and payments are not allowed until the interim final rule is published in the Federal Register, according to Kevin Ropp, a spokesman for the department’s Health Resources and Services Administration.

U.S. President George W. Bush launched the smallpox immunization program last December in an attempt to shield the United States from a bioterrorist attack. U.S. health officials hoped to immunize millions of medical and emergency workers this year, but fewer than 40,000 health care workers have received the vaccination and the program has essentially stopped.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 49 adverse events through the end of November, including 22 cases of inflammation in the heart muscle or the sac surrounding the heart. The CDC has reported six cases of vaccinia, in which the vaccine spreads beyond the immunization site. Health officials have also recorded 20 cases of inadvertent inoculation, where the vaccine is spread by the recipient.

Because the final rule has not been in place there are no pending compensation claims, Ropp said.

There have been no civilian deaths directly linked to the smallpox vaccine and several experts have said that the CDC and other health officials overstated the dangers of the vaccine and kept volunteers from participating in the program (see GSN, June 24).

Sickened volunteers who want to file a claim can do so at the HRSA Web site.

Earlier this year, health officials also published a table that explains the injuries and criteria needed to receive compensation.

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