‘Testing’ Not ‘Residual Effect’ of Vaccine Injury, Federal Appellate Court Rules

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal appellate panel has ruled that the mother of a child who developed a temporary bruising condition after receiving the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is not entitled to damages under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program because subsequent blood testing was not a “residual effect” of a vaccine injury.

In a Jan. 5 opinion, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel explained that testing does not fall within the category of “effects within the patient, particularly lingering signs and symptoms of the original vaccine injury.”

“B.W.’s relatively non-invasive ongoing monitoring is neither an ‘ongoing …