Officials with the Bush Administration are preparing to ask Congress to establish a compensation program for persons injured or killed by the smallpox vaccine. Although routine vaccinations ended in the United States in 1972 and the disease was declared eradicated from the earth in 1980, the U.S. government fears terrorist organizations or hostile countries such as Iraq may have stockpiled samples of the virus. Because the smallpox vaccine is so dangerous (it is made with a live virus, vaccinia, that can cause serious injury to those who come in close contact), health officials have determined that one or two people will die for every million vaccinated if the nation is required to administer it.

Congress will most likely be asked to choose from two options: the first involves the restriction of lawsuits and the establishment of a Federal compensation fund modeled after the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. As part of the second, the government would defend any lawsuit brought and pay damages accordingly.