The following is an excerpt from Newsweek.
The administration of President Joe Biden is hiring additional attorneys to help handle the workload from vaccine lawsuits after seeing a spike in people filing claims.
The Covid-19 pandemic thrust the potential side effects of vaccines into the spotlight, prompting fierce debate about whether the benefits outweigh the potential negative outcomes. While Covid vaccine side effects have been limited, several lawsuits from plaintiffs who have experienced adverse effects have attempted to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable.
A job posting on LinkedIn from the Department of Justice advertised for a trial attorney to specialize in cases related to the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. The legislation provides compensation to those injured by certain vaccines.
It’s unclear if the attorneys the Biden administration is hiring will be responsible for Covid-19 vaccine claims.
Covd-19 vaccines are covered under the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP), not the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), according to the Health Resources and Services Administration. Vaccines covered under the VICP include tetanus, measles, mumps and rubella, and polio.
Adverse side effects to the Covid-19 vaccine are rare, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), although some have died from them. Myocarditis, among the side effects, is most common in young males.
People who were negatively affected by the vaccine have expressed frustration with getting compensation from the U.S. government.
In a recent lawsuit in Louisiana, plaintiffs called the process unconstitutional and a “black hole” in the judicial process.
The lawsuit argues that the CICP provides “no timeline” for resolving their cases and one plaintiff had their case denied.
The plaintiffs allege the Covid-19 vaccine led them to experience Bell’s palsy, brain blood clots, vascular inflammation and heart palpitations.
The CICP was created in 2005 and was used to deal with claims resulting from public health emergencies like anthrax exposure and the Ebola virus. It offers limited compensation, according to Reuters, and doesn’t have the option to provide compensation for damages or legal fees.
Unaccustomed to handling a large volume of cases, the program was flooded with more than 12,000 Covid-related claims.
Only 32 had been deemed eligible for compensation and 1,129 had been denied as of October, according to Reuters.
Link to article here.
The Lemonade Mermaid Store
Unique gifts for Land or Sea Mermaids, Mer-pets and Little Mermaids!
Left: Pastel Beach Necklace $16
I am thinking the news of hiring additional DOJ attys might be overblown. DOJ regularly advertises for attys in the NVICP arena due to constant turnover. These are new attorneys, just learning the legal process. Building a resume and moving on after a couple of years. The other possibility, yet remote, could be Sec’y of HHS wanting to move COVID-19 vax injuries into the NVICP at some time in late 2024 as the PREP Act expires and winds down. Thus DOJ wants to hire more attys and train them. But this move also requires Congress to get involved.