Widman Law Firm LLC HomeNorth Carolina Vaccine Injury Lawyer
Widman Law Firm is fully prepared to file claims for vaccine related injuries taking place in the State of North Carolina. The admission required to bring vaccine injury claims in front of the Court of Federal Claims, the Court in which vaccine injury claims are submitted and heard, is a federal admission. Therefore, Phyllis Widman, Esq. is fully admitted and prepared to bring vaccine injury claims in all 50 states and D.C., including North Carolina. Whether you are in Charlotte, Raleigh, Asheville, Greensboro, Durham, Chapel Hill, Wilmington, Boone, or anywhere in between, the team at Widman Law Firm is prepared to provide you and your family with high quality legal representation for you and your family for your vaccine injury claim across the State of North Carolina.
The Vaccine Injury Compensation ProgramIn the 1980’s there was an uptick of lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers in the U.S., alleging permanent brain damage in children as a result of the Pertussis vaccines of the time. The public outrage and profit losses were great enough for the drug companies to stop producing the vaccine; by 1985, only one manufacturer of the Pertussis shot remained. To mitigate these companies’ risks and ensure the continued manufacturing of vital immunizations, Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act in 1986. This act afforded special protections to vaccine manufacturers which eliminated their financial liability from vaccine injury claims.
However, a surrogate system by which people could be compensated also needed to be established. This resulted in the creation of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP): a federal no-fault system involving the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and adjudication by special masters.
As of 2023, the VICP has awarded over $4.4 BILLION dollars in pain and suffering awards, medical costs and lost wages reimbursement, as well as cost of living expenses to victims of vaccine-related injuries and deaths.
In order for a petitioner to have a valid claim in the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, they must have received a vaccine covered under the VICP, sustained an injury listed on the Vaccine Injury Table, and experienced symptoms within the given timeframe.
Some of the vaccines covered under the VICP include:
- Seasonal Flu
- Polio
- Varicella (chickenpox)
- Rotavirus
- Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis B
- HPV
- Tetanus
- Diphtheria
- Pertussis (whooping cough)
- And more
Some of the injuries listed on the Vaccine Injury Table:
- SIRVA, (Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration)
- ADEM, (Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis)
- GBS, (Guillain-Barré Syndrome)
- CIDP (Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy)
- Death;
- And others
The VICP will award up to $250,000 in pain and suffering expenses, but the amount paid toward medical costs, lost wages, and cost of living expenses is uncapped and can stretch into the million-dollar range. The maximum death benefit paid by the VICP is also $250,000. The VICP will also reimburse the petitioner’s attorneys fees as long as their claim was filed legitimately and in good faith; this is so that lawyers are not entitled to a portion of a petitioner’s compensation, as with other types of personal injury litigation.
The Countermeasures Injury Compensation ProgramThe Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program, or CICP, was established for the same reason as the VICP - to protect drug companies from financial liability in the event of injuries or death resulting from their products. However, the CICP covers all emergency medical countermeasures, not just vaccines, developed in times of a public health crisis. The most recent example of one such crisis is COVID-19.
More than 95% of all claims filed in the CICP have been COVID-countermeasure related.
The COVID vaccine made up the majority of those claims.
Unlike the VICP, the CICP claims process is not a legal one, therefore the program will not reimburse a claimant’s attorneys fees. Regardless, it is still recommended to file a claim through a specialized personal injury lawyer who knows how to navigate the system in an expeditious manner.
The CICP will pay up to $379,000 in lost wages, capped at $50,000 a year, as well as medical and cost of living expenses. The maximum death benefit awarded by the CICP is higher than that of the VICP at $370,000.
Experienced Vaccine Lawyers Who Will Fight for YOUFrom humble beginnings to winning millions of dollars in compensation for our clients, the team at Widman Law Firm has focused on vaccine injury cases the entire time. Unlike big law firms that only have a vaccine “division”, we specialize in and have dedicated ourselves wholly to our vaccine cases and giving our clients the peace of mind they deserve.
If you or a loved one has been a victim of a vaccine injury or death, don’t wait: there is a strict statute of limitations of three (3) years to file a claim in the VICP, and only ONE (1) year to file in the CICP.
Call or email us to find out how we can file YOUR claim for compensation in either program today.
North Dakota Vaccine AttorneyPhyllis Widman, Esq., the vaccine attorney at Widman Law Firm, is admitted to file claims for vaccine related injuries occurring in the State of North Dakota. She is admitted to practice in the Court of Federal Claims, the special Court in which vaccine injury claims are heard. This special licensing allows attorneys such as Phyllis Widman, Esq. to bring vaccine injury claims in all 50 states and D.C., including North Dakota. Whether you are in Fargo, Bismarck, Minot, Grand Forks, West Fargo, Williston, or anywhere in between, the highly capable team Widman Law Firm is ready to provide you with quality legal representation for your vaccine injury claim across North Dakota.
