Canada needs to plan for possible flu-vaccine injuries: U of O expert

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Canada needs to plan for possible flu-vaccine injuries: U of O expert

By Sharon Kirkey, Canwest News ServiceJuly 21, 2009_Comments (4)_

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OTTAWA — 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, says 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 no-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 autumn. 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.â€

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.â€

As of July 15, a total of 10,156 laboratory-confirmed cases of pandemic

H1N1, including 1,115 hospitalizations and 45 deaths, had been reported in

Canada.

A new study of the outbreak of swine flu at a private school in Nova

Scotia in April — the first cases of human-to-human infection in Canada —

found

that, unlike regular season flu, only 59 per cent had a fever. Common

symptoms included cough, headache, sore throat and nasal congestion.

The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, showed

that vaccination with the regular seasonal flu shot didn’t protect the

vaccinated kids from swine flu, and that symptoms sent 80 per cent of those

infected to the campus infirmary.

Canwest News Service

© Copyright © The Ottawa Citizen

Your Comments

DrJab

July 21, 2009 - 1:55 PM

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“there are going to be concerns about people not wanting to take the

vaccine, health-care workers in particular,†of course, health-care workers

cannot be fooled as easily as general population. why would we take an untested

vaccine which can result in more serious problems then the flue itself???

 

SquareDeal

July 21, 2009 - 10:09 AM

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DSDS, A certain percentage of all vaccines result in adverse effects. In

all provinces but Quebec, the law prevents the Crown from being found liable

for damages that may result from adverse effects of medical devices or

treatments. The rushing to administer a vaccine with incomplete testing is a

problem when there is no government plan to help people who suffer adverse

effects. (We saw something similar when governments rushed to force

adolescent girls to wrongly get vaccinated against HPV prior to the testing and

approval of the vaccine being complete, along with the false insinuation that

it would prevent cancer. We're finally seeing the companies admit that all

boys should also be receiving the vaccine.) The expert is being responsible

by (1) pointing out that this flu vaccine is being rushed to market

without complete testing (2) as in all vaccines, the risk exists of a certain

percentage of adverse effects and (3) the government should prepare to

compensate people who may experience adverse effects, rather than shield itself

behind the current law. I believe in Quebec, they have implemented such

no-fault coverage for persons injured by vaccine related incidents.

 

dsds

July 21, 2009 - 7:15 AM

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An educated man urging a compensation program instead of asking questions

like " what could happen " to them. I find it bizarre that our own government

will be urging people to have a vaccine that isn't safe. What is going on

here? Something just isn't right about all of this.

 

bytown

July 21, 2009 - 7:11 AM

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So pharma companies produce potentially unsafe vaccines. Get so-called

paid for experts to convince people they have to get it or they will die. Then

if that wasn't enough, they want the government to pay for potential

lawsuits resulting from step one to their plan. Then you wonder why smart

people

are sceptical when it comes to stories about so called experts. And

payments to these experts don't necessarily have to be done directly. It can be

done by research grants, donations of equipment....