Shannon Law Group - October 2021

3 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT COVID-19 VACCINE INJURIES Recently, more and more companies, businesses, and agencies have issued mandates for people to receive COVID-19 vaccines. With more people being vaccinated, a small percentage of them are sustaining vaccine injuries. you can recover those damages and more, including pain and suffering up to $250,000. 2. Attorneys’ fees and costs are not offered in the CICP, but they are available in the VICP.

We receive calls, almost daily, from people reporting an injury after a COVID-19 vaccine and wanting to know if they can get compensation for their losses. We hosted a webinar last month to provide information on this issue. (That webinar is available on our YouTube channel.)

3. Recovery in the CICP is rare. Since 2010, only 29 claims have received any compensation, and none of those claims involved COVID-19 vaccine injuries. At Shannon Law Group, we do not believe the CICP is an acceptable way to help the vaccine injured. We believe COVID-19 vaccines should be added to the VICP as soon as possible so anyone who receives a serious vaccine injury can be justly compensated and not written off as an additional casualty in this pandemic. Currently, there is a bipartisan bill pending in the House of Representatives, H.R. 3655, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Modernization Act of 2021. This bill proposes to update the VICP to make it easier and faster to add new vaccines to that program and increase the damages an injured person can receive.

There are three important facts you should know regarding COVID-19 vaccine injuries:

1. Vaccine manufacturers are essentially immune from liability for injuries caused by COVID-19 vaccines under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act. 2. You cannot receive compensation in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). COVID-19 vaccines are not currently “covered” vaccines under the VICP. 3. The only option currently available to potentially recover some compensation for a serious COVID-19 vaccine injury is the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP). There are many key differences between the VICP and CICP, including the following: 1. Damages available in the CICP are limited to unreimbursed medical expenses and lost employment income. In the VICP,

We invite you to support the passage of this bill by asking your congressional representative to co-sponsor it. Please email Brittany at BPeterson@ShannonLawGroup. com for a sample letter.

– Rhonda Lorenz-Pignato

TOP 3 THINGS TO DO AFTER BEING HURT ON THE JOB IN ILLINOIS

No. 3: Seek Medical Care Immediately The longer you wait to seek medical care, the greater likelihood you are to meet resistance from your employer or your employer’s insurance company. This can result in your sitting at home for months without any income. We have had numerous cases where a worker injures themselves on a Friday, thinks nothing of it, and does not report it. When the worker attempts to return to work Monday, they realize they can’t move because their condition is far worse than they realized. The worker then contacts their employer and notifies them they were injured on Friday but thought nothing of it. The insurance carrier for the employer automatically assumes the injured worker must have done something over the weekend on their personal time, and now is trying to run it through the workers’ compensation system. Seeking immediate medical treatment may help alleviate some of these initial concerns.

Getting injured on the job is a worrying and uncertain time for many working men and women. The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act is designed to protect injured workers when they’ve been hurt on the job and need medical treatment. Based on my 28 years of experience in handling these claims, I’ve narrowed down the top three things you must do immediately after you are hurt on the job in Illinois: No. 1: Report Your Injury to Your Employer Within 45 Days The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act requires that employees injured on the job report their injury to a supervisor within 45 days of the date of the injury. However, the further in time from the occurrence, the greater the likelihood the injured worker will meet resistance from the employer or the employer’s insurance carrier. It is our strong recommendation that anyone who has been hurt on the job immediately notify their supervisor that they have suffered an injury, no matter how small the injury may be. You can give this notice orally or in writing. No. 2: Document Your Work Injury It is important to document your injury or the source of your injury. Take a photo of the instrument or location where you are injured. Inform a coworker that you have just been hurt. Ask for a copy of any paperwork the employer makes you fill out at the time of the injury.

If you’ve been hurt on the job, we strongly recommend that you seek counsel immediately so you can level the playing field and protect the rights of you and your family. Contact us at (312) 663-7016 if you have any questions.

– Jack Cannon

2 www.shannonlawgroup.com

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