If you or your child was seriously injured after receiving the DTP vaccine, you may have a DTP vaccine injury claim. If you decide to file a DTP vaccine lawsuit, our vaccine injury attorneys can help you file a claim with the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), a federal fund that has been set up to compensate victims of vaccines. In rare cases, DTP vaccine side effects have included life-threatening allergic reactions, brain damage, lifelong seizure disorders, coma, and more.
Do I Have a DTP Vaccine Lawsuit? Collen A. Clark is a true advocate for his clients and is passionate about helping Texans that have been injured or wronged. If you or a loved one has been injured after being immunized with the DTP Vaccine, you should contact our lawyers immediately regarding a vaccine injury claim. You may be entitled to compensation by filing a DTP Vaccine lawsuit.
DTP Vaccine Overview
The DTP vaccine is recommended as a routine childhood immunization to protect against the following illnesses:
- Diphtheria: In which a thick covering in the back of the throat interferes with breathing. The disease can also cause paralysis, heart failure, and death.
- Tetanus (Lockjaw): This disease commonly enters the body through cuts. It can cause muscles to tighten all over the body, including the jaw. This disease causes death in 2 out of 10 cases.
- Pertussis (Whooping Cough): People with this disease have severe coughing spells that can interfere with breathing, eating, and drinking. The coughing spells can last for weeks and cause seizures, pneumonia, brain damage, and death.
In the United States, since 2004, children have been given immunizations with the DTaP vaccine instead of the DTP vaccine. The DTP vaccine contains whole cells of Bortetella pertussis, the cause of whooping cough, and it is associated with a slightly higher risk of side effects compared to the DTaP vaccine.
There are three brands of DTaP vaccines: Daptacel, Tripedia, and Infanrix.
Doctors recommend that children receive five immunizations — at ages 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15-18 months, and 4-6 years of age. The Tdap is a booster shot that is given to teenagers or adults to supplement immunity.
DTP Vaccine Side Effects
The risk of side effects from the DTP vaccine is far lower than the risk of getting diphtheria, pertussis, or tetanus without the vaccine. Even so, experts know that the DTP vaccine does occasionally cause some severe side effects. If you or your child has suffered a severe DTP vaccine side effect, you may have a DTP vaccine injury claim and be entitled to compensation.
Side effects of the DTP vaccine include, but are not limited to:
- Allergic reaction, which in some cases is life-threatening
- Breathing problems
- Non-stop crying that may last for at least 3 hours
- Shock
- Seizure, which may be a long-term seizure disorder that being 3-7 days after injection
- Coma
- Decreased consciousness
- Brachial neuritis (neurological and muscular disorder)
- Permanent brain damage
- Fever
- Permanent disability
- Death
DTP Vaccine Injury Claims
If you decide to file a DTP vaccine injury claim, the matter will be reviewed by a special federal court associated with the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). Since 1989, the federal government has funded this no-fault compensation program with a $0.75 excise tax on all vaccines. Each injury claim is eligible for up to $250,000 in damages, and to date, the VICP has paid more than $2.4 billion to victims of vaccine injuries.
You may want to file a DTP vaccine lawsuit if you meet the following criteria:
- If you, your child, or if you are the legal guardian of a child or disabled adult who was injured by the vaccine.
- The injury must be serious. It must have either lasted for six months or more, or needed hospitalization or surgery, or caused permanent disability or death.
- The DTP vaccine injury claim must be filed within a certain amount of time. You have 2 years to file a claim for death, 3 years for an injury, and 4 years for an injury which eventually caused death.
Texas DTP Vaccine Lawyer
Because filing a DTP vaccine injury claim is a legal process, most people decide to hire a qualified, experienced vaccine injury lawyer to handle their claim. Your lawyer can help gather the right information, including medical records and information about your out-of-pocket expenses, to help you get the highest amount of compensation and make the best case possible. Then, the claim must be filed in a special court in Washington D.C., the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. There, experts will review your vaccine injury claim and decide whether to award compensation. Each case is eligible for up to a $250,000 award.
Do I have a DTP Vaccine Lawsuit?
Collen A. Clark is a true advocate for his clients and is passionate about helping Texans that have been injured or wronged.
Collen’s amazing success in the courtroom and well known dedication to his clients has earned him the recognition of his peers as one of The Top Trial Lawyers in Texas.”
The Clark Firm has assembled a team of trial lawyers with more than 100 years experience, participation in over 600 jury trials and $60 million in verdicts and/or settlements. Please use the form below to contact us for a free DTP Vaccine lawsuit review.