The Vaccine Injury Table is probably the most important aspect of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The Table largely determines whether someone injured by a vaccine is entitled to compensation.
What is the Vaccine Injury Table?
If you were injured by a vaccination, you are much more likely to be eligible for compensation from the VICP if you meet the criteria set forth in the Table. For reference, you can view the Vaccine Injury Table here.
Essentially, the Table lists all of the vaccines covered by the VICP and the known injuries that have been linked to these injections.
There are three columns in the Table. In order to meet the criteria of the Table, you need to meet the following criteria for each column.
Column 1: Did you receive a covered vaccine?
The first column lists all of the vaccines that are covered under the VICP. Typically, all vaccines recommended on the childhood vaccination schedule are covered under the program. This includes any of the following injections:
- Tetanus vaccines (e.g., DTaP, TD, DTP, Td, or TT)
- Pertussis shots (e.g, DTP, DTaP, P, DTP-Hib)
- Measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines (e.g., MMR, MM, MMRV)
- Polio vaccinations (e.g., OPV, IPV)
- Hepatitis A & B vaccines
- Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) injections
- Varicella vaccines
- Rotavirus vaccinations
- Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines
- Seasonal flu shots
- Meningococcal vaccines
- Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations
If you were injured by a different vaccine not listed above, you are not eligible to obtain compensation from the VICP. Instead, you may be able to recover from the vaccine manufacturers or your medical providers.
Column 2: Did you suffer an illness, disability, injury, or condition associated with a covered vaccine?
The second column lists the illnesses, disabilities, injuries, and conditions that are associated with a particular vaccine.
For example, the first vaccine listed on the Table is any vaccine containing tetanus toxoid (DTaP, DTP, DT, Td, TT). According to the Table, there are four illnesses, disabilities, injuries, or conditions linked to these tetanus vaccines, listed A through D:
- Anaphylaxis
- Brachial Neuritis
- Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration (SIRVA)
- Vasovagal Syncope
If your injury or condition isn’t listed on the Table, you can still submit a petition for compensation from the VICP. However, you will have to prove that the covered vaccine you received caused your injury.
Column 3: Did your illness, disability, injury, or condition occur within the timeframe specified by the Table?
Just because you received a tetanus vaccine and developed one of those four injuries does not mean that you have satisfied the criteria of the Table.
Your injury must also appear within a certain time frame after receiving the vaccine. The third column specifies a time period in which the first symptom or manifestation of onset of the illness or condition must occur following the vaccine administration.
For example, let’s look at the DTaP vaccine. Let’s say a petitioner received the DTaP vaccine and was later diagnosed with Brachial Neuritis. According to the Table, this injury is covered only if the onset of their Brachial Neuritis symptoms started between 2-28 days after receiving the vaccine. Below is an excerpt from the Table which demonstrates the above example.
Time period for the first symptom or manifestation of onset or of significant aggravation after vaccine administration
I. Vaccines containing tetanus toxoid (e.g., DTaP, DTP, DT, Td, or TT)A. Anaphylaxis: ≤ 4 hours
B. Brachial Neuritis: 2-28 days (not less than 2 days and not more than 28).
C. SIRVA: ≤ 48 hours.
D. Vasovagal syncope: ≤ 1 hour.
When does the “onset” of vaccine injury symptoms happen according to the Table?
Let’s look at another example to show just why the onset of your vaccine injury is so important.
A petitioner receives the seasonal influenza vaccination. After three weeks, she starts feeling numbness in her feet. After four weeks her symptoms get worse so she goes to the hospital. She spends the next two weeks in-patient at the hospital.
After numerous testing, including a lumbar puncture procedure, she is eventually diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). Her doctors suggest that it might be related to the flu shot she received about six weeks earlier.
Here is what the Table says for the seasonal influenza vaccine:
Time period for the first symptom or manifestation of onset or of significant aggravation after vaccine administration
XIV. Seasonal influenza vaccine
A. Anaphylaxis ≤ 4 hours.
B. SIRVA ≤ 48 hours.
C. Vasovagal syncope ≤ 1 hour.
D. Guillain-Barre Syndrome 3-42 days (not less than 3 days and not more than 42).
In our example, the onset of the petitioner’s GBS is not when she is ultimately diagnosed six weeks later. Instead, the onset of her injury was when she first experienced numbness in her feet two weeks after the vaccination. That was the “first symptom” of her GBS.
Even if you have the facts on your side, that will not always be enough. Medical records filed with the Petition will have to corroborate the allegations.
The Table also includes a “qualifications and aids to interpretation” section that is meant to further describe and define the scope of the injuries listed in the Table. When filing a Petition, your lawyer should make sure that the nature of the alleged injury matches the descriptions and definitions included in that section.
Why Is the Vaccine Injury Table Important?
If your injury meets the criteria of the Table, your petition is called a “Table case.” Petitions that do not allege an injury on the Vaccine Injury Table are known as “Off-table cases.”
In Table cases, the vaccine court presumes that the vaccine caused the injury. This means the government (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) must prove that something other than the vaccine caused the injury.
This presumption is given to “Table cases” helps many petitioners receive compensation from the VICP. Many Table cases end up being conceded by the government.
How do you prove “Off-Table” cases?
In an “Off-Table” case, the road to compensation is much more difficult. Off-Table cases must establish a likelihood that a covered vaccine caused his or her injury. This is also referred to as “causation in-fact.” In almost every case, it requires a report and/or testimony of a qualified medical expert witness.
The Court has developed a three-factor test to determine whether a petitioner has established “causation in-fact” for an Off-Table case. These factors are known as the Althen factors developed in the case of Althen v. Sec’y, HHS.
According to Althen, in order to prove causation in an Off-Table case, a Petitioner is required to show:
- A medical theory causally connecting the vaccination and the injury;
- A logical sequence of cause and effect showing that the vaccination was the reason for the injury; and
- A showing of proximate temporal relationship between vaccination and injury.
An “Off-table” case, therefore, will require much more evidence in support of the alleged vaccine injury than the medical records alone.
Let’s say your treating physician offers an opinion that your injury was caused by a vaccine. However, he or she will not include a biological or scientific theory linking the vaccine to the injury listed in the medical records. That’s why your attorney will need to hire a medical expert.
Off-Table cases are typically disputed by the Court and will likely require a hearing before the Special Master, where it becomes a battle of competing experts.
Just because your case is an “Off-Table” case does not mean that you will never receive compensation for your injury. The government does resolve many of these cases. It will settle “Off-Table” cases without conceding that the vaccine caused an injury. Other “Off-Table” cases are successful at hearing with support from experts, medical literature, scientific studies, etc.
Injured by a vaccine? We can help.
An experienced vaccine injury attorney will fully investigate any potential vaccine injury regardless of whether it meets the criteria of the Table.
If you believe you have suffered a vaccine injury, whether it matches the criteria of the Table or not, you may be entitled to compensation. Our lawyers will review your case at no cost to you.
You can call us at (312) 578-9501 or fill out the form at the bottom of the page to get started.
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