(2003)

Dear Robert R. Bass, M.D., Executive Director Maryland Institute for Emergency

A recent federal initiative has encouraged public safety personnel, such as law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical services personnel, to undergo voluntary smallpox vaccination as a precaution against contracting that disease when responding to a bioterrorist incident. As part of that initiative, Congress addressed compensation of individuals who may suffer adverse effects from smallpox vaccination in two pieces of legislation. One law, which was enacted as part of the Homeland Security Act of…