Donna E. Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services v. Margaret Whitecotton et al. (514 U.S. 268)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 18, 1995 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 514 U.S. 268 · 115 S. Ct. 1477
- Decided
- April 18, 1995
- Term
- October Term 1994
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Souter
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Souter delivered the opinion of the Court. The question in this case is whether a claimant who shows that she experienced symptoms of an injury after receiving a vaccination makes out a prima facie case for compensation under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, 100 Stat. 3755, 42 U. S. C. §300aa-1 et seq. (1988 ed. and Supp. V), where the evidence fails to indicate that she had no symptoms of that injury before the vaccination. We hold that the claimant does not make out a case for compensation. I For injuries and deaths traceable to vaccinations, the Act establishes a scheme of recovery designed to work faster and with greater ease than the civil tort system. H. R. Rep. No. 99-908, pp. 3-7 (1986). Special masters in the Court of Federal Claims hear vaccine-related complaints, 42 U. S. C. §300aa-12(c) (1988 ed., Supp. V), which they adjudicate informally, §300aa-12(d)(2), within strict time limits, §300aa-12(d)(3)(A), subject to similarly expeditious review, § 300aa-12(e)(2). A claimant alleging that more than $1,000 in damages resulted from a vaccination after the Act’s effective date in 1988 must exhaust the Act’s procedures and refuse to accept the resulting judgment before filing any de novo civil action in state or federal court. 42 U. S. C. § 300aa-11(a) (1988 ed. and Supp. V). The streamlining does not stop with the mechanics of litigation, but…
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