Giving Compass' Take:

• James Hamblin at The Atlantic exposes a little known deal protects drug companies in the U.S. from being sued writing that when a person reports harm that could feasibly be related to a vaccine, a government program—not a pharmaceutical company—pays compensation.

• What are policymakers doing to ensure a proper medical vaccine program? 

• Here's an article on American's online vaccine debates. 

“Vaccines are safe,” says Narayan Nair. “That’s the message we need to get out there.”

Nair is a physician. He is also the head of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program—the system through which the U.S. government has, over the past three decades, paid more than $4 billion to people who claim to have been harmed by vaccines.

According to its public record, from 2013 to 2017 alone, the program paid out an average of $229 million a year to patients and their families. The average payment was about $430,000.

As America enters the worst measles outbreak since the disease was declared eradicated two decades ago, it is worth examining this rarely talked about element of vaccination requirements. The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has long percolated at the heart of misinformation and misunderstanding. It also raises questions about where large sums of tax money are flowing.

Read the full article on the vaccine payout by James Hamblin at The Atlantic.