How to Arm Yourself Against Vaccine Injuries And What to Do If Things Go Wrong

By Leah V. Durant

Vaccines are medical marvels. They've allowed humanity to eradicate infectious diseases and have saved millions of lives worldwide.

But they're not risk-free. In this book, vaccine attorney Leah Durant details how people can arm themselves against vaccine injuries — and what they can do if something goes wrong. Durant dives into two federal programs — the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program — that can provide victims money if they suffer a vaccine injury.

This book is for everyone interested in vaccines — and in making sure they fulfill their promise to protect and improve public health.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9781387629947

Book preview

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How to Arm Yourself Against Vaccine Injuries — And What to Do If Things Go Wrong

By Leah V. Durant

How to Arm Yourself Against Vaccine Injuries — And What to Do If Things Go Wrong

Copyright © 2022 by Leah V. Durant

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

ISBN: 978-1-387-62994-7

Law Offices of Leah V. Durant, PLLC

1717 K Street NW, Suite 900 Washington, DC 20006

www.vaccinelaw.com

Graphic design by Mandi Vollmer.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 5

Prologue 6

Chapter 1: Introduction 7

Chapter 2: A Brief History of Federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Programs 9

Chapter 3: An Overview of Injuries Covered by the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program 16

Chapter 4: How Can People Avoid Vaccine Injuries? 25

Chapter 5: What to Do If You’re Injured 29

Conclusion 39

References for Further Reading 40

Endnotes 41

About the Author 47

Acknowledgments

This book is the product of my many years of experience as a vaccine attorney. I have tried to write it in such a way that it can be useful to lawyers and ordinary citizens alike. I could not have done it alone. I would like to thank my husband, Michael Milmoe, himself a highly experienced vaccine attorney, and the incredibly hard-working and caring staff at the Law Offices of Leah V. Durant & Associates. But most of all, I want to thank all of the hundreds of clients who have shared their stories with me and trusted me to improve their situations. Their stories are the heart of this book.

Prologue

Injuries from vaccines are on the rise. While injuries from vaccines are rare, they do occur, and Congress has known as much for decades. Congress intends for those who are injured by nearly all vaccines to be compensated for injuries when they do occur. That is why in 1986, Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. This little-known Act provided for the establishment of a Vaccine Court where ordinary citizens injured by vaccines could seek monetary damages. The Act allows those injured by vaccines to hire a lawyer to represent them at no cost to the injured party. The process of navigating a vaccine claim to a successful conclusion requires skill and experience, as there are many nuances in the law. This book will help those who have been injured successfully make a claim before the Vaccine Court — and avoid the pitfalls inherent in this unique and unusual legal process.

Chapter 1: Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the biggest vaccination campaign in history. Millions of people sat for shots within months of their approval in late 2020.

And for good reason. COVID-19 is the deadliest pandemic in modern U.S. history, surpassing even the 1918 influenza pandemic.¹ But the vaccines against the virus that causes COVID-19 have proved remarkably effective. The risk of dying from the disease is orders of magnitude lower among the vaccinated than among the unvaccinated.

As the COVID-19 crisis has taught us, vaccines are medical miracles. They protect us from lethal and debilitating diseases at incredibly low cost.

But it’s important to remember that vaccines are still medications. And like