|
|
This is only a preview of the paper
Click here to register and get the full text.
Existing members click here to login
|
|
|
... Unfortunately in certain cases it appeared that the whooping cough vaccination instead of protecting the child against disease actually caused permanent brain damage and sometimes death. ... The most widely publicised debate centres on whether the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine can cause autistic spectrum disorders and bowel disease.
This essay will explore the problems faced by those seeking compensation for vaccine damage, focusing on the situation prior to the enactment of the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979. It will proceed by discussing analytically the propose of the Act, its good and bad points and the extent to which it has helped victims of vaccine damage. An exploration of the problems shared by the Act and the common law will follow with a review of some of the cases that have come before the courts. ...
Prior to the Act
The Association of Vaccine Damaged Children which was formed in 1973 drew public attention to the issue of vaccine damage. ... Despite this failure public awareness of the alleged causal link between pertussis vaccination and brain damage in young children promoted a number of legal responses.
In 1977 the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation reported that on balance the benefits of immunisation for the individual child and the community outweighed the potential disadvantages and that the proof of causation was difficult in the cases where convulsions and brain damage were alleged to have followed vaccination. They concluded that the lack of medical knowledge on whether or not vaccines caused the damage alleged, made it almost impossible to prove a causal link. ...
As a result of the campaign by the Association the Prime Minister wrote to Lord Pearson, the chair of the Royal Commission on Civil Liability and Compensation for Personal Injury (the Pearson Commission), asking that they look at the issue of vaccine damage. In 1978 the Pearson Commission reported and asserted the need for special legal treatment for victims of vaccine damage; they argued that since vaccination programmes are endorsed by the government in the interests of public health, there was a case for financial compensation. ...
The Commission further recommended that public authorities should be strictly liable in delict or tort for damage caused to a child or adult suffering injury as a result of vaccination recommended in the interests of public health.
That is to say that, where the plaintiff can show on the balance of probabilities that the injury suffered was attributable to the administration of a vaccine on the recommendation of the Government or local authority, he should be entitled to compensation.
This proposal meant that liability would not require proof of negligence; however it would still require proof, on the balance of probabilities, that there was a causal link between the damage and the vaccination. ... In addition to this the Pearson Commission proposed that the scheme should only apply to cases of severe damage. ...
It is important to note that as well as the one off payment the commission proposed that children who suffered apparent vaccine damage, including those who did not qualify under the scheme, should receive a weekly benefit payable as a supplement to child benefit.
The Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979
As earlier noted the Pearson Commission recommended a ‘strict liability’ scheme, however the scheme in place under the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979 is more comparable with a no fault system as it is funded from the public purse, demanding only evidence of a causal link. ... Since its inception the Act has provided that if a person is disabled, by a vaccination against any of the prescribed diseases, to the extent of 80% or more (now defined as disablement of 60% or more. ... Although these increases have maintained or increased the real value of the statutory sum that can be awarded, it does not compensate the victims of vaccine-damage for the actual harm caused to them; neither does it in any way cover the cost of 24 hour home-based care estimated at £80,000 per year.
Approximate Word count = 3233
Approximate Pages = 12.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
|
|
|
|
|
|