Litigation, regulation, and education--protecting the public's health through childhood immunization.

throughout the country. The program’s four levels of federal review provide a powerful shield against large numbers of cases reaching state courts. In any cases that do reach state courts, it is highly unlikely that plaintiffs will succeed without additional scientific advancements to support their claims. Because state courts must deliver judgments based on credible evidence that satisfies traditional legal standards, claims relying on evidence similar to that presented under the Omnibus Autism Proceeding will have difficulty surviving judicial scrutiny. The government is committed to ensuring that the vaccine supply is as safe as the current state of scientific knowledge allows. This commitment includes oversight of all aspects of vaccine development, manufacturing, and administration and promotion of activities that ensure that adverse events are infrequent. As part of this obligation, the VICP has perhaps the saddest duty — determining which persons have truly been harmed by vaccines. Consequently, the program has adjudicated more than 7000 cases since its inception, yet only 2284 claims have been deemed legally eligible for awards, totaling $1.8 billion. As Campbell-Smith noted in Hazlehurst, the special master’s charge “does not permit decision making on the basis of sentiment but rather requires a careful legal analysis of the evidence.”3