U.S. Sup. Ct.
12-236
The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 (NCVIA or Act) established a no-fault compensation system to stabilize the vaccine market and expedite compensation to injured parties. Bruesewitz v. Wyeth LLC, 562 U. S. ___, ______. Under the Act, [a] proceeding for compensation is initiated by service upon the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the filing of a petition containing specified documentation with the clerk of the Court of Federal Claims, who then immediately forwards the petition for assignment to a special master. 42 U. S. C. §300aa11(a)(1). An attorney may not charge a fee for services in connection with [such] a petition, §300aa 15(e)(3), but a court may award attorneys fees and costs incurred [by a claimant] in any proceeding on an unsuccessful petition filed under section 300aa11, if that petition was brought in good faith and there was a reasonable basis for the claim for which the petition was brought, §300aa15(e)(1).
