Health · Public Health & Disease · 17 hrs ago
Kennedy launches federal effort to study reported vaccine injuries
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has launched a federal effort to study and document health problems reported after vaccination.
It includes a National Institutes of Health clinic, opened on Monday, to treat and study people reporting such problems.
Other steps include plans to pay doctors for reporting suspected injuries and efforts to update the CDC reporting system and add vaccine-related events to electronic health records.
The United States already has a no-fault program that pays compensation for certain vaccine injuries, and it has awarded about $5 billion since 1988.
Kennedy has long questioned vaccine safety, while pediatricians say vaccines are tested and monitored after approval.
The new effort comes amid concern about falling vaccination rates and a resurgence of measles in the United States since last year.
Kennedy’s changes to the childhood vaccine schedule are also facing legal challenges: a federal court blocked key parts in March, and the injunction has kept the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee from meeting to make recommendations that can affect insurance coverage.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched an effort to study and document health problems reported after vaccination, the Department of Health and Human Services said.
The effort includes a National Institutes of Health clinic that opened on Monday to treat and study patients reporting problems after vaccination.
Other measures include proposals to reimburse doctors for reporting suspected injuries, update the federal adverse-event reporting system and add vaccine-related events to electronic health records.
The initiative comes as Kennedy faces legal challenges over changes to childhood vaccination recommendations and public health experts express concern about falling immunisation rates.
- Who
- U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Department of Health and Human Services launched the effort.
- What
- A federal effort to study and document health problems reported after vaccination.
- When
- This week, according to HHS. The clinic opened on Monday.
- Where
- The United States; the clinic is at the National Institutes of Health.
- Why
- Not stated
Kennedy and his allies
Public health experts
Vaccine safety
Kennedy and his allies
Kennedy has questioned vaccine safety and argued that chemicals in vaccines are dangerous.
Public health experts
Experts say there is no evidence that chemicals in vaccines cause harm.
Childhood vaccination
Kennedy and his allies
Kennedy has said U.S. children receive too many vaccines.
Public health experts
The American Academy of Pediatrics says childhood vaccines are tested in trials and monitored for safety after approval.
No direct quotes in the coverage so far.
The CDC announced a revised childhood vaccine schedule that reduced recommended vaccines.
A federal court issued a preliminary injunction blocking key parts of the proposed schedule changes.
An NIH clinic opened to treat and study patients reporting health problems after vaccination.
HHS said Kennedy had launched an agency-wide effort to study and document reported health problems after vaccination.
- Clinic
- National Institutes of Health
- Reporting system
- Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)
- Vaccine Injury Table
- 14 compensable injuries across 16 vaccine types
- Compensation program
- Roughly $5 billion awarded across about 12,300 injury and death claims since 1988
Sources
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