Vaccines: Know Your Rights
By Marcus J. Susen, Susen Law Group
Normally if you are injured by a drug or medical device you are able to seek compensation in a court with a jury of your peers. This is not the case, however with vaccines. If you are injured by a vaccine, any kind of vaccine, you are essentially precluded from court. What happens then? The Federal Government makes you file a claim in what is called Vaccine Court in Washington, D.C., or file through a Countermeasure Compensation Program.
How do you know which route to take? That depends upon the vaccine. For more common vaccines, such as the flu or Shingles, you must file in Vaccine Court. For your more epidemic emergency countermeasures, such as COVID-19, you are limited to the Countermeasure Compensation Program.
Both Vaccine Court and the Countermeasure Compensation Program are different from normal courts in that:
- you do not have a jury deciding your case
- your damages are limited to low thresholds
- your likelihood of succeeding is low, by looking at the track records
Whether you are for or against vaccines, it is important to be informed. Informed of not only the risks but also your avenues for recourse.
