Vaccine Injuries and Deaths Continue to Increase in Federal Vaccine Court

by Brian Shilhavy
Health Impact News

The Department of Justice issues a report on vaccine injuries and deaths every quarter to the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines (Click on “Meeting Book – PDF – 12 MB” for June 4 meeting). There are 163 cases for vaccine injuries and deaths for the period 2/16/2015 through 5/15/2015.

103 of the settlements were listed in this report, giving the name of the vaccines, the injury, and the amount of time the case was pending before settlement. Four of those settlements were for deaths linked to vaccines, with three deaths related to the flu shot, and one death for the Hepatitis B shot, typically given to newborns. 74 of the 103 settlements were for injuries and deaths due to the flu shot, and the majority of flu shot injuries were for Guillain-Barré Syndrome.

These quarterly reports on vaccine injuries and death settlements from the U.S. vaccine court are seldom, if ever, reported in the mainstream media. We report them here at Health Impact News. Here is the June 4, 2015 report:

Most of the Public is Unaware that there is a Vaccine Court

In November of 2014 the Government Accounting Office (GAO) issued the first report on America’s “Vaccine Court,” known as the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP), in almost 15 years. Most citizens of the United States are not even aware that there is something called the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, and that if you suffer harm or death due to a vaccine, that you cannot sue the manufacturer of the vaccine, but you must sue the Federal Government and try to obtain compensation from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Trust Fund, which is funded by taxes paid on vaccines.

This is because Congress gave the pharmaceutical companies immunity against lawsuits for injuries or deaths resulting in vaccines in 1986. Prior to this time, there were so many lawsuits pending against pharmaceutical companies for injuries and deaths due to vaccines, that the pharmaceutical industry basically blackmailed Congress and told them that if they did not grant them legal immunity against the liabilities of vaccines, that they would quit making them. These vaccine products cannot survive in a free market, they are so bad.

The November 2014 GAO report criticized the government for not making the public more aware that the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program exists, and that there are funds available for vaccine injuries. Therefore, the settlements represented by vaccine injuries and deaths included in the DOJ report probably represent a small fraction of the actual vaccine injuries and deaths occurring in America today.

The Federal Vaccine Court is Not Helping Victims of Vaccine Injuries and Vaccine Deaths

But even for those families and individuals who are aware of the NVICP, fighting a legal battle that can take years to get access to the funds ensures that many who do file claims never get any of the funds reserved for vaccine injuries. That fund, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Trust Fund, is currently over $3.5 billion, largely because the U.S. Government refuses to even hear cases related to autism which would quickly deplete the fund. (See: How the Government has Earned $3.5 BILLION from the Claim that Vaccines Don’t Cause Autism.)

Wayne Rohde, author of the book The Vaccine Court: The Dark Truth of America’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, explains how the NVICP is no longer a viable justice venue for the vaccine injured as Congress intended it to be. (See: GAO Report on Vaccine Court Reveals Vaccine Injured Victims Not Being Helped.)

Is the Government Trying to Hide Stats Showing Increase in Vaccine Injuries and Deaths?

The June 4, 2015 report published here shows a definite increase in compensations for vaccine injuries and deaths from the last report issued on March 5, 2015, and previous reports before then. You can review previous DOJ reports for vaccine injuries and deaths compensated by the U.S. Government here.

Investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson, a former CBS Evening News correspondent, recently reported that the government has deleted some vaccine data from their websites.

She wrote:

In March, the federal government removed the latest vaccine injury court statistics—more than a year’s worth of data—from one of its publicly reported charts. It was an abrupt departure from the normal practice of updating the figures monthly.

Wiping the latest data means the “adjudication” chart on a government website no longer reflects the recent, sharp rise in court victories for plaintiffs who claimed their children were seriously injured or killed by one or more vaccines.

Since January of 2014, twice as many victims have won court decisions than the previous eight years combined. In these court decisions, a judge ruled the evidence showed vaccines “more likely than not” caused the plaintiff’s injuries.

Also on the rise is the number of vaccine injury cases the government has “conceded”: up 55% in a little over one year.

As a result of the recent website changes, neither of these trends is reflected on the current “adjudication” chart.

Read her full report here:

Recent Rise in Vaccine Victims’ Court Decisions and Concessions Not Reflected in Revised Government Chart

Finding information about the settlements of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has also been more difficult to find. Health Impact News used to be able to find the DOJ’s colorful powerpoint presentations submitted by the government lead attorney, Vincent J. Matanoski, on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ website by doing a simple search. However, they have not been published there, to our knowledge, since June 5, 2014, and now we have to extract the photocopied black and white version, such as you see above, buried inside the “Meeting Book” of the quarterly Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines meetings.

Sharyl Attkisson has reported a similar difficulty in obtaining vaccine injury data from government websites:

Another recent change made vaccine injury data more difficult to find. The “adjudication” chart used to be the first item that showed up on the statistics page. But that has been replaced by language stating that vaccines are safe and effective.

Does the Flu Shot and other Vaccines Cause Guillain-Barré Syndrome?

Guillain-Barré Syndrome is a known side effect of the flu shot, and even just a cursory review of the cases being compensated for vaccine injuries are overwhelmingly for those people suffering from Guillain-Barré Syndrome. The government wants the public to believe that this is rare, affecting only “one or two” people for every million flu shots. With about 130 million flu shots administered each year, that would be 130 to 260 cases a year.

But just in these DOJ reports alone, we can see over 150 cases awarded compensation for Guillain-Barré Syndrome injuries (including deaths) due to the flu shot. And just a tiny fraction of the population is even aware that the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program even exists. Add to this the fact that most people believe the flu shot is harmless (because that’s what most doctors and the government claim), so they would never associate developing Guillain-Barré Syndrome with the vaccine.

What is Guillain-Barré Syndrome? Here is the definition the CDC gives:

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare disorder in which a person’s own immune system damages their nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis. GBS can cause symptoms that last for a few weeks. Most people recover fully from GBS, but some people have permanent nerve damage. In very rare cases, people have died of GBS, usually from difficulty breathing.

Compare this to the CDC definition for Polio, which is supposedly a “vaccine preventable” disease:

Polio is an infectious disease caused by a virus that lives in the throat and intestinal tract. Up to about 72% of susceptible persons infected with polio have no symptoms. However, infected persons without symptoms can still spread the virus and cause others to develop polio. About 24% of infected susceptible persons have minor symptoms such as fever, sore throat, upset stomach, or flu-like symptoms and have no paralysis or other serious symptoms. About 1-5% develop aseptic meningitis with stiffness of the back, back, or legs, and in some persons increased or abnormal sensations a few days after the minor illness resolves. These symptoms typically last from two to ten days, followed by complete recovery. Less than 1% of polio cases result in paralysis of the limbs (usually the legs). Of those cases resulting in paralysis, 5-10% of the patients die when the respiratory muscles are paralyzed.

Doctors Who are Not Vaccine Extremists Question Vaccines, Especially the Flu Shot

As can clearly be seen by the government’s own vaccine statistics, vaccines are both dangerous and deadly. There are many doctors across the U.S. who understand this, and do not adhere to the extremist vaccine positions, that ALL vaccines are good, for ALL people, ALL the time, by force if necessary. The vaccine debate is not a debate between extremist positions, but a debate that in reality looks at the merit of each vaccine, and the impact of the vaccine schedule with so many vaccines being given together. For more information, see: