John Butler, an analyst with the consulting firm Putnam Hayes & Bartlett engaged to examine vaccine injury compensation for Merck and the American Academy of Pediatrics, estimated that a five-year cost of a federal program patterned after the vaccine act "would be about $513 mil." if lump-sum payments are awarded to eligible claimants. A federal program for compensating children injured by mandated childhood vaccines was authorized by provisions of the Omnibus Health Act enacted last November however, the program cannot be implemented unless separate funding legislation is passed. Merck manufactures the measles-mumps-rubella pediatric vaccine (M-M-R) and has an application pending for a varicella vaccine (Varivax). weighted to reflect the differences in adverse experiences among vaccines," he said. Furthermore, "Merck supports the financing of the trust fund through the imposition of a surcharge or an excise tax.
"We have examined this issue for a number of years and have concluded that a trust fund with up-front, lump-sum payments for claimants would be the most fiscally sound," MacMaster contended. The federal vaccine injury compensation program should be set up as a trust fund that provides "up-front, lump-sum" payments to victims of adverse vaccine reactions, Merck Sharp & Dohme President Douglas MacMaster testified at a March 5 hearing before the House Ways & Means/Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee.
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