Congress passes smallpox vaccination bill, -and- Senate Committee Chair Postpones Vaccine Liability Bill Markup

CAL/AAEM News Service pottsbri@yahoo.com
Thu, 17 Apr 2003 22:08:29 -0700 (PDT)


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AHA NEWS NOW

The Daily Report for Hospital Executives

www.ahanews.com

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Monday, April 14, 2003

2) Congress passes smallpox vaccination bill

Also late Friday, Congress passed the Smallpox Emergency Personnel Protection Act of 2003. The legislation provides AHA-backed changes in the government's voluntary smallpox program by allowing hospitals to provide vaccinations without fear of liability if someone they vaccinate should become ill. It also includes a compensation fund that pays up to $50,000 a year for those sustaining a disability after vaccination and a death benefit of $262,000, an important first step in providing a safety net for those few people who suffer an adverse reaction to the vaccine. Congress also approved $43 million to help fund the bill.

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Copyright 2003 by the American Hospital Association. All rights reserved. For republication rights, contact Craig Webb. AHA News is a registered trademark of the American Hospital Association. The opinions expressed in AHA News Now are not necessarily those of the American Hospital Association.

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-----Original Message-----

From: California Healthline [mailto:CALIFORNIAHEALTHLINE@ADVISORY.COM] 

Senate Committee Chair Postpones Vaccine Liability Bill Markup 

04/10/2003 

<http://www.senate.gov/~labor/> Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) yesterday postponed the markup of a bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist

(R-Tenn.) that would make several revisions to the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, the <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1254-2003Apr9.html> AP/Washington Post reports (AP/Washington Post, 4/10). The delay comes after the committee on Tuesday neared agreement on the measure. The bill, first introduced in March, would extend the statute of limitations from three to six years for families of children injured by required vaccines to file claims under VICP, which provides the families with compensation for the injuries. The legislation also would increase the amount of compensation that families can receive for children's pain and suffering from $250,000 to $350,000. In addition, the legislation would allow parents to receive compensation for their own pain and suffering. The bill would require parents who allege that their children experienced injuries from thimerosal, a mercury-based vaccine additive that some have linked to autism, to file compensat!
 ion claims under VICP before they sue vaccine manufacturers in court ( http://www.californiahealthline.org/members/basecontent.asp?contentid=48414&collectionid=3&program=1 California Healthline, 4/9). A spokesperson for Gregg said markup of the bill was postponed because the committee would not have been able to achieve a quorum yesterday, adding that "the bill was finished late" and "a lot of people haven't had a chance to look at it" (Rovner, CongressDaily/AM, 4/10). However, Democrats said Gregg delayed the bill after two vaccine manufacturers -- <http://www.merck.com/> Merck and <http://www.wyeth.com/> Wyeth -- expressed last-minute objections to the final version of the bill, the <http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/10/politics/10VACC.html> New York Times reports. Ian Spatz, vice president for public policy at Merck, said, "We are concerned with any changes that would add significantly to the already great burden of civil legislation against vaccine research companies such !
 as ours." Lawmakers said they expect negotiations on the bill to resum


e after Congress's two-week recess, which begins Monday (Gay Stolberg, New York Times, 4/10). 


Brian Potts 
Managing Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service 
MS-IV, UC-Irvine


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<P>AHA NEWS NOW</P>
<P>The Daily Report for Hospital Executives</P>
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<P>Monday, April 14, 2003</P>
<P>2) Congress passes smallpox vaccination bill</P>
<P>Also late Friday, Congress passed the Smallpox Emergency Personnel Protection Act of 2003. The legislation provides AHA-backed changes in the government's voluntary smallpox program by allowing hospitals to provide vaccinations without fear of liability if someone they vaccinate should become ill. It also includes a compensation fund that pays up to $50,000 a year for those sustaining a disability after vaccination and a death benefit of $262,000, an important first step in providing a safety net for those few people who suffer an adverse reaction to the vaccine. Congress also approved $43 million to help fund the bill.</P>
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<P>==================================</P>
<P>Copyright 2003 by the American Hospital Association. All rights reserved. For republication rights, contact Craig Webb. AHA News is a registered trademark of the American Hospital Association. The opinions expressed in AHA News Now are not necessarily those of the American Hospital Association.</P>
<P>==================================</FONT></P>
<P>-----Original Message-----</P>
<P>From: California Healthline [</FONT><A href="mailto:CALIFORNIAHEALTHLINE@ADVISORY.COM"><U><FONT color=#0000ff size=2>mailto:CALIFORNIAHEALTHLINE@ADVISORY.COM</U></FONT></A><FONT size=2>] </P>
<P>Senate Committee Chair Postpones Vaccine Liability Bill Markup </P>
<P>04/10/2003 </P>
<P>&lt;</FONT><A href="http://www.senate.gov/~labor/"><U><FONT color=#0000ff size=2>http://www.senate.gov/~labor/</U></FONT></A><FONT size=2>&gt; Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) yesterday postponed the markup of a bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist</P>
<P>(R-Tenn.) that would make several revisions to the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, the &lt;</FONT><A href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1254-2003Apr9.html"><U><FONT color=#0000ff size=2>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1254-2003Apr9.html</U></FONT></A><FONT size=2>&gt; AP/Washington Post reports (AP/Washington Post, 4/10). The delay comes after the committee on Tuesday neared agreement on the measure. The bill, first introduced in March, would extend the statute of limitations from three to six years for families of children injured by required vaccines to file claims under VICP, which provides the families with compensation for the injuries. The legislation also would increase the amount of compensation that families can receive for children's pain and suffering from $250,000 to $350,000. In addition, the legislation would allow parents to receive compensation for their own pain and suffering. The bill would require parents wh!
 o allege that their children experienced injuries from thimerosal, a mercury-based vaccine additive that some have linked to autism, to file compensation claims under VICP before they sue vaccine manufacturers in court ( </FONT><A href="http://www.californiahealthline.org/members/basecontent.asp?contentid=4"><U><FONT color=#0000ff size=2><A href="http://www.californiahealthline.org/members/basecontent.asp?contentid=48414&amp;collectionid=3&amp;program=1">http://www.californiahealthline.org/members/basecontent.asp?contentid=4</U></FONT></A><FONT size=2>8414&amp;collectionid=3&amp;program=1</A> California Healthline, 4/9). A spokesperson for Gregg said markup of the bill was postponed because the committee would not have been able to achieve a quorum yesterday, adding that "the bill was finished late" and "a lot of people haven't had a chance to look at it" (Rovner, CongressDaily/AM, 4/10). However, Democrats said Gregg delayed the bill after two vaccine manufacturers -- &lt;!
 </FONT><A href="http://www.merck.com/"><U><FONT color=#0000ff size=2>h


ttp://www.merck.com/</U></FONT></A><FONT size=2>&gt; Merck and &lt;</FONT><A href="http://www.wyeth.com/"><U><FONT color=#0000ff size=2>http://www.wyeth.com/</U></FONT></A><FONT size=2>&gt; Wyeth -- expressed last-minute objections to the final version of the bill, the &lt;</FONT><A href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/10/politics/10VACC.html"><U><FONT color=#0000ff size=2>http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/10/politics/10VACC.html</U></FONT></A><FONT size=2>&gt; New York Times reports. Ian Spatz, vice president for public policy at Merck, said, "We are concerned with any changes that would add significantly to the already great burden of civil legislation against vaccine research companies such as ours." Lawmakers said they expect negotiations on the bill to resume after Congress's two-week recess, which begins Monday (Gay Stolberg, New York Times, 4/10). </P></FONT></DIV><BR><BR><STRONG>Brian Potts <BR>Managing Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service</STRONG> <BR>MS-IV, UC-Irvine<p><br><!
 hr size=1>Do you Yahoo!?<br>
<a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/search/mailsig/*http://search.yahoo.com">The New Yahoo! Search</a> - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
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