Political Quotes

“I will read from a statement by Dr. Timothy Doran, testifying on behalf of AAP, to the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee earlier this year on behalf of the American Academy of Pediatrics, relating to these provisions. He testified it was crucial: to preserve and strengthen the liability protections for consumers, manufacturers and physicians through the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The VICP has been an integral part of maintaining the vaccine market. Enacted in the last 1980's with the support and guidance of the American Academy of Pediatrics the VICP has helped to stabilize what was then and appears again to be a fragile vaccine market. We reiterate our strong support that all claims for vaccine-related injury or death must be filed first with the VICP. We appreciate the intent of the legislative proposal put forth by Sen. Frist and others to craft appropriate modifications as necessary to ensure that the VICP is working to its full potential. Those are the provisions in the underlying bill. That is exactly what is in the homeland security legislation that would be stripped out by the Lieberman amendment. The effect of these provisions in this bill is important because of the new era of bioterrorism, not knowing the direction the world is moving, recognizing we are unprotected today from smallpox.”