Swine flu vaccine will need compensation rules: Expert
No plans here to aid those injured from the immunization
By Sharon Kirkey, Canwest News Service
July 21, 2009
A leading public health expert is calling on Canada to create a no-fault compensation program for people who may be harmed by a swine flu vaccine that millions of Canadians will be urged by the government to get this fall.
Kumanan Wilson, Canada research chair in public health at the University of Ottawa, said in an interview with Canwest News Service that children and adults could be exposed to an incompletely tested vaccine and that a compensation scheme is needed to encourage the public to buy into any mass immunization program.
When the World Health Organization last month proclaimed swine flu the first pandemic since 1968, Canada’s chief public health officer, David Butler-Jones, said everyone should get the new flu shot when it becomes available.
“The more people that have immunity, the easier it is to stop,” he said.
But Canwest News Service has learned that, unlike the United States, the Public Health Agency of Canada has no plans to compensate people who may be injured by an H1N1 vaccine.
A vaccine injury program would give people who suffer an adverse reaction faster access to compensation without having to go through the legal system. Quebec is the only jurisdiction in Canada that has a non-fault compensation program.
Public Health Agency of Canada officials acknowledged last week there won’t be time for a swine flu vaccine to go through standard safety testing before immunizations begin in the fall. The first doses are expected to be available in three to four months. Officials said they are working with regulators on ways to reduce any time required for getting the vaccine out. Canada could invoke emergency provisions to get the vaccine out quicker, before all the data from human trials that test safety are complete.
That happened in 1976, when an outbreak of swine flu at the Fort Dix army base in New Jersey spawned a nationwide emergency vaccination program. Manufacturers wanted legal protection against vaccine-related injury claims, so Congress enacted legislation allowing people to sue the federal government. About 45 million Americans were vaccinated. Reports soon emerged of unusually high rates of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare, neurological disorder that can cause temporary paralysis. More than 5,000 people sued for vaccine-related injuries, resulting in payouts totalling $73 million. In the 1980s, the U.S. introduced no-fault compensation for all vaccines.
“I’m not saying we shouldn’t roll out this vaccine (against H1N1 influenza),” said Wilson, an expert in pandemic planning.
“I don’t know how confident we will be in its efficacy and safety at the outset, but I don’t think we’ll have any choice but to roll it out, because, at this point, the only way to control the spread is going to be a vaccine.”
But “there are going to be concerns about people not wanting to take the vaccine, health-care workers in particular,” he said.
“We have been arguing that it needs to be complemented with a no-fault compensation program, just like in 1976, and we need to develop systems to pick up these adverse events.”
Meanwhile, some First Nations leaders argued Monday that aboriginal people should be a top priority for swine flu immunization when a vaccine is ready.
As the Assembly of First Nations meets in Calgary this week to elect a new national chief, the organization is also expected to turn its attention to H1N1 influenza and preparing for the fall flu season.
“There has to be some priority given to our First Nations people (for vaccination),” said Angus Toulouse, Ontario regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations.
“There’s data one could use to say First Nations are more at risk.”
Plan now: Report
Canadian companies and organizations are being urged in a new report to consider the swine flu pandemic as a “business continuity crisis” and to put response plans in place now, before the fall flu season arrives. The Conference Board of Canada report released Monday examines the actions some organizations have already taken and provides advice on what should be included in pandemic response plans.
Many businesses in Canada developed plans following the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2002 and the avian flu. Those plans are now being tested and companies are determining how they can be applied to the swine flu pandemic.
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