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Bush Signs Smallpox Vaccine Compensation

Posted on: Thursday, 1 May 2003, 06:00 CDT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush signed into law Wednesday a package of payments for people injured by the smallpox vaccine.

Under the new law, people disabled by the vaccine, which carries rare but serious risks, could get up to $50,000 per year in lost wages - significantly more than the Bush administration proposed.

As many as 40 out of every million people vaccinated for the first time will face a life-threatening injury, and one or two will die. Reactions include severe rashes, blindness and life-threatening infections.

Officials hope that establishing payments for those injured by the vaccine will encourage more people to be vaccinated. There has been a lackluster response from health care workers asked to get the shot.

Under the legislation:

-- Families of people who are killed by the vaccine and die without dependents are entitled to a lump sum payment of $262,100, modeled after a compensation program for police and firefighters.

-- Estates of those who are killed and have dependents could choose the lump sum payment or up to $50,000 per year to make up for the deceased's lost wages. The payments would continue until the victim's youngest child reached age 18.

-- Those who are totally and permanently disabled would get up to $50,000 per year for lost wages until age 65, with no cap.

-- Those who are permanently but not totally disabled, and those with temporary disability, would get lost wages up to a maximum of $262,100.

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