A federal program designed to help people injured from vaccine is falling short of its promises.
The $3.6 billion Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was created to take care of people who suffered catastrophic reactions to vaccines.
11 Investigates found it also helps the vaccine makers, by protecting them from lawsuits.
It's a fund you pay into every time you get a vaccine.
Jessica Mura was a healthy 21-year-old EMT. She didn't want to get a flu shot, but her job working on an ambulance, required it.
"I just had a bad feeling about it," Mura said.
Days after getting the shot, her coworkers noticed changes in her. The last time she was able to walk on her on was when she walked into an emergency room.
Mura slipped into a coma for months, had 15 surgeries and has a permanent brain injury. Doctors said it's because of a rare reaction to the flu shot.
"I was healthy. There was absolutely nothing wrong with me," Mura said. "I just knew what happened to me was wrong, and I wanted to try to rectify it a little bit."
The federal government agreed, but it took years.
It took Mura two years to find an attorney. When Mura hired her, Diane Tiveron had never heard of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
"It's kind of a well-kept secret in terms of what is available for people," Tiverson said.
Patients pay into the fund. Seventy-five cents of the total cost from every single shot goes into it. The vaccine makers contribute nothing.
"Whoever came up with this idea, I have to congratulate them. The manufacturers are not bearing any responsibility," said Tiverson.
She believes that takes away the companies' incentive to make vaccines safer, since they know they can't be sued. In a lawsuit, the victim would have to show negligence, not just that the shot caused the injury.
The program was supposed to be faster and easier. When it was created, payouts were supposed to take roughly eight months, but an audit found more than half of the cases take longer than five years. More patients are filing claims and there isn't enough staff to handle them.
In the last 25 years, nearly 5,000 victims have received more than $3 billion. Another 10,000 victims have been turned away.
"I can appreciate people standing guard and making sure there aren't frivolous claims, but those are pretty easy to take out of the equation. So I do think it should be easier," Tiverson said.
She believes everyone who gets a shot should be told about the fund.
Mura finally got more than $1 million for her care. Still, she said no amount of money is worth what she's been through.
"I would give everything back 10 times over, if I could just walk," Mura said.
Cox Media Group
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