 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Quigley v. Rider12/22/2003
et against the instability and uncertainty of tort litigation).
To meet the clearly stated goals of Congress, the Act provides a remedial scheme whereby a person who sustains vaccine-related injuries after the effective date of the Act must apply to the Federal Claims Court for compensation pursuant to the Act prior to seeking traditional tort remedies through state and federal courts. §§ 300aa-11(a)(2)(A)(i) and (ii); see Shalala, 514 U.S. at 270 (citing § 300aa-11) ("A claimant alleging that more than $1,000 in damages resulted from a vaccination after the Act's effective date in 1988 must exhaust the Act's procedures and refuse to accept the resulting judgment before filing any de novo civil action in state or federal court.") (emphasis as in original). However, once an injured person has appropriately applied to the Federal Claims Court under the Act and received a judgment, the person may choose to accept the judgment or pursue traditional tort remedies in state and federal court. See § 300aa-21(a).
II. Vaccine-Related Injury
Quigley argues the circuit court erred by dismissing Kealy's claims because Kealy's injuries are not "vaccine-related injuries" within the scope of the Act. Quigley contends although Kealy's injuries from the first DPT shot were "vaccine-related injuries," Kealy's injuries from the second and third DPT shots were not because Rider's administrations of the second and third DPT shots were intervening and superseding factors, breaking the causal chain between the DPT shots and Kealy's injuries. We disagree.
When the terms of a statute are clear and unambiguous, our inquiry ends, and we are required to enforce the terms of the statute as Congress drafted it. See United States v. Ron Pair Enters., Inc., 489 U.S. 235, 241-42 (1989).
Section 300aa-11(a)(2)(A) states the Act only applies to a vaccine-related injury. The Act defines "vaccine-related injury" as "an illness, injury, condition, or death associated with one or more of the vaccines set forth in the Vaccine Injury Table..." § 300aa-33(5) (emphasis added).
DPT is a vaccine listed within the Vaccine Injury Table. § 300aa-14. Furthermore, even under Quigley's arguments, Kealy's injuries are "associated with" the DPT shots. Thus, under any view of the negligence alleged, Kealy's injuries are "vaccine-related injuries" within the scope of the Act. See Amendola v. Secretary, Dep't of Health and Human Servs., 989 F.2d 1180, 1186-87 (Fed. Cir. 1993) (holding injuries arising from allegations of medical malpractice stemming from multiple administrations of a vaccine within the Act are vaccine-related injuries subject to the Act). Therefore, we reject Quigley's assertion the claim against Rider is not vaccine-related.
III. Subject Matter Jurisdiction
Quigley argues the circuit court erred by ruling the Act deprives state courts of subject matter jurisdiction. Quigley contends the statute merely creates a remedial process that must ordinarily be exhausted prior to a vaccine-related injury being brought in state court, and because Rider failed to comply with §§ 300aa -25(d) and -26(c) & (d), he is equitably estopped from asserting the statute as a defense. We disagree.
Where a state statute conflicts with or frustrates federal law, the former must give way. Maryland v. Louisiana, 451 U.S. 725, 746 (1981). In the interest of avoiding unintended encroachment on the authority of the states, however, a court interpreting a federal statute pertaining to a subject traditionally governed by state law will be reluctant to find preemption. Thus, preemption will not lie unless it is the clear and manifest purpose of Congress. Rice v. San
Page 1 2 3 South Carolina Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|