Causation Hearing: How to Listen In
6/11/2007
The first Omnibus Autism Proceeding hearing on whether or not there is a causal connection between receipt of childhood vaccines and exposure to ethylmercury (thimerosal) through receipt of certain of those vaccines started on June 11, 2007 in Washington, D.C. This hearing will be open to and remotely accessible by the public, including the families who have petitions for compensation pending with the Vaccine Program. The Court of Federal Claims, Office of Special Masters has established three avenues by which interested parties may access the proceedings. Please see below for information on how to access the proceedings.
A specific page on the Court’s Internet website is devoted to the Omnibus Autism Proceeding, where filed documents and periodic updates regarding the proceedings are posted. This page may be accessed by logging onto this Court’s website at www.uscfc.uscourts.gov, then clicking on the “Vaccine Program” link. On the special masters’ page, there is a link designated “Autism Proceeding;” by clicking on that link you may view the information available concerning the OAP.
For those who will not be attending in person, there will be three different ways to follow the hearing: First, one may “dial in” to the proceedings through a “listen-in-only” telephone connection. Second, one may download the audio of the hearing from the Internet, about one day after the hearing. Third, transcripts of each day’s proceedings will be posted on this Court’s website about 24 hours after the conclusion of each day’s proceedings.
On the first day of the hearing, June 11, the proceedings will start at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern time). On the days thereafter, it will likely begin either at 8:00 a.m. or 9:00 a.m., depending on the witness schedule for the day. On most days it will likely adjourn around 6:00 p.m., again depending on the witness schedule. For those who anticipate attending in person, the Court cautions that you must allow sufficient time to pass through court security each time you enter the National Courts Building.
The courtroom will seat about 400 to 450 people, so all who wish to attend should be admitted. There will be designated seating near the front for attorneys with pending Vaccine Act autism cases.
In addition, for those, attorneys or others, who plan on listening to the hearing on the dial-in phone connection, your cooperation is needed to ensure that an adequate number of phone lines will be available. Please register ahead of time, letting the Court know on what days you expect to listen. Registration will be on-line, and is very quick and easy. You can register either by typing the following website address (http://registration.teleconferencingcenter.com/go/autismphoneaudio) or by visiting this Court’s Autism Proceeding web page and clicking on the “registration page for listening to the autism trial” link. In either event, you will encounter a registration page. All you need to do is to check the boxes for the dates on which you want to listen. To listen for a single day, check the box for that day, and then select the “Register” button located to the right for that day. For multiple days or to listen to the entire trial, you must check the boxes for the specific days you are interested in; to listen for the entire trial, you must check the boxes for all of the individual days. After checking the boxes for the days in which you are interested, select the “Register for Selected Events” button located at the bottom of the page. Please register as soon as possible, so that we will be sure to have enough telephone lines available. However, you may be able to register up to the day of the trial to which you wish to listen. When you register, you will receive a confirmation statement, which will list the phone number to call on the hearing day (888-638-9716), and the “Conference ID” number for each day’s hearing.
For those who would like to download the audio of the hearing or read the transcript, those services will also be accessible through the Autism Proceeding web page. After each day’s audio download and transcript is posted, visit that web page and click on the link for “audio recordings and transcripts.”
Finally, we advise interested parties to keep checking the Autism Proceeding webpage. They will continue to post information that will allow you to closely following the hearing.
/s/ Denise K. Vowell /s/ Patricia Campbell-Smith /s/ George L. Hastings, Jr.
Special Master Special Master Special Master
Additional information on this issue can be obtained in the attached article from the June 4th Legal Times.
A recent article which describes a case where the government concedes a Georgia girl may have been injured by vaccines may be found at this link.
Please click on this link if you would like more information on the Omnibus Autism Proceeding. The Lommen Abdo Law Firm represents injured people in vaccine injury cases and can help pursue these type of claims. Sheila Bjorklund, a shareholder at Lommen Abdo, practices before the Vaccine Injury Court. Ms. Bjorklund may be reached at 612-336-9312, 800-752-4297, or sheila@lommen.com.
If you would like to receive a brochure that contains more information about vaccine injuries and the no-fault program, please contact Beth Ryan, Legal Administrative Assistant, at 612-336-1270, 800-752-4297, or bethr@lommen.com. The brochure explains the Act and the options available to assure that future needs are appropriately compensated for the person injured.