National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP)

The VICP is the US federal fund that compensates, without requiring fault, injuries caused by vaccines routinely recommended for children and pregnant women. It grew out of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. In the early 1980s, pertussis vaccine suits had multiplied, manufacturers were leaving the market and products liability cover for vaccines was close to unobtainable. Congress chose to take the risk out of the tort system. Since October 1, 1988, a claimant must first file with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, where special masters decide petitions against HHS. A Vaccine Injury Table creates a presumption of causation when a listed injury appears within the set time window. Off the table, causation must be proven. The trust fund is fed by a 75-cent excise tax per disease prevented on each dose sold. Attorney fees are paid even when a petition fails, provided it was filed in good faith. Pain and suffering and the death benefit are each capped at $250,000. By early 2026 the program had paid on the order of $5.5 billion since 1988. A claimant may reject the decision and go to tort court, but the Supreme Court closed design defect claims in 2011 in Bruesewitz. COVID-19 vaccines fall outside it: they go through the PREP Act's CICP, which is far less generous.