National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act

In 1986, the U.S. federal government enacted the National Childhood Vaccination Injury Act (NCVIA) (42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa-1 to 300aa-34). This act had one focus and one objective in particular: to reduce the potential liability vaccine manufacturers were responsible for in regard to vaccine injury claims and litigation.

The U.S. federal government undertook this act in order to ensure that vaccine manufacturers were not ensnared in drawn-out litigation involving class action lawsuits regarding some of the side effects of their vaccines. [Page 946]This enabled the vaccine manufacturers to maintain available market supplies of their vaccines for continued use.

Under the NCVIA, the U.S. federal government established a program for victims of the vaccines to receive financial remuneration without having to go through the entire legal process. This ...