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| | Smallpox Vaccinations Could Create an Outbreak of Claims
By Robert Warne - December 19, 2002Emerging from all the talk about inoculating Americans against smallpox has been some details about workers’ compensation and liability claims.
Tommy Thompson, secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, said Dec. 16 that most states are expected to pay workers' compensation for lost work time for medical or emergency personnel sickened by the vaccine.
For the statistically two in a million who may lose their lives, family members would be eligible to receive wrongful-death benefits based on a state’s particular workers’ compensation laws.
There is the remote possibility that a claimant could sue the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act, if negligence can be proved. But states, hospitals and those administering the shots enjoy liability protection under Section 304 of the new Homeland Security law.
Because a vaccinated person can spread the virus by touching the injection site and then touching someone else, there is the possibility that a co-worker can become ill. As it currently stands though, non-vaccinated employees who encounter an adverse medical reaction from a vaccinated employee won’t be eligible to file a workers’ compensation claim.
The immediate financial burden falls on the states, private insurers and employers to cover the costs associated with any loss related to the smallpox vaccination. Certain groups though want to push Congress after the holidays to set up a federal workers’ compensation fund that will broaden the current protection available. |
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