

Vaccine Injury cases are handled in the United States Court of Federal Claims (“Vaccine Court”). There are several requirements that must be met in order to have the opportunity to prevail.

One of the main requirements is that the petitioner show (prove) that he/she received the vaccine alleged to have caused the injury. When it comes to obtaining this information from medical records kept by one’s doctor, that should be easy.

The problem arises, when a person receives a vaccine from a pharmacy and there is no medical record. If there is no witness and no receipt of payment as proof of receiving the vaccine, then how can a petitioner prove that his/her injury was in fact from any vaccine?

It could be possible to request CCTV footage of the person receiving the injection, but those recordings are not exactly readily available and may even be impossible to obtain, especially if the precise date and time of the vaccine is not offered. Therefore, it is extremely important that if you receive a vaccine, keep the receipt.

I recommend you keep the receipt for at least five (5) years. While that number may seem big and arbitrary, it is not. The reason I say five years is because the statute of limitations (the time within which you have to file a petition) begins to run three (3) years from the date of the first onset of symptoms. Once the three years has passed, if a petition was not filed within that time frame, then there is no valid claim that can be brought. The statute of limitations is two (2) years from the date of death, if death occurred.

The date of first onset of symptoms may have started up to a year or more after the vaccine was received (although a case like that is very difficult to prove in vaccine court). Therefore, to be on the safe side, I recommend that a person save their receipt for the three years plus two extra years to ensure that they are covered in the event symptoms begin some time after receiving the vaccine.

If you have any questions, contact Widman Law Firm, LLC, Vaccine Injury Attorney, at 732.829.3416 or toll free at 866.945.8586.