42 U.S.C. § 300aa–19 — Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines

(a) Establishment: This section creates the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines. It has nine members the Secretary appoints, plus four non-voting members. Three appointed members must be health professionals who don't work for the federal government. They must know about children's health care, childhood diseases, and vaccine side effects. At least two of the three must be pediatricians. Three appointed members come from the general public. At least two of these must be legal representatives — like parents or guardians — of children hurt or killed by a vaccine. Three appointed members must be lawyers. At least one lawyer must represent people hurt by vaccines. One lawyer must represent vaccine manufacturers. The four non-voting members are the Director of the National Institutes of Health, the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Commissioner of Food and Drugs (or people they pick to stand in for them). The Secretary had to pick the appointed members within 90 days of October 1, 1988. The members then choose one of themselves to be Chair. (b) Term of office: Appointed members serve three-year terms. But for the very first group of members, the Secretary split them up: three served one year, three served two years, and three served three years. (c) Meetings: The Commission had to hold its first meeting within 60 days after every member was appointed. After that, it must meet at least four times a year, and any time the Chair calls a meeting. Five members must be present to hold an official meeting. Decisions are made by a majority vote of the voting members present. (d) Compensation: Members who already work for the federal government don't get extra pay for serving on the Commission — just their normal government salary. Members who don't work for the federal government get paid for each day they work on Commission business, including travel days. That pay can't be more than the daily rate for a GS-18 federal employee. All members can be reimbursed for travel costs, including a daily allowance for meals and lodging, using the same rules that apply to federal employees who travel occasionally for work. (e) Staff: The Secretary must give the Commission the staff, information, and outside experts it needs to do its job well. (f) Functions: The Commission must: (1) advise the Secretary on how to carry out the vaccine injury compensation Program; (2) recommend changes to the Vaccine Injury Table, either on its own or because someone filed a petition asking for a change; (3) advise the Secretary on the need for childhood vaccines that cause fewer or no serious side effects; (4) study federal, state, and local efforts to track vaccine injuries — including the reporting rules in section 300aa–25(b) — and advise the Secretary on how to collect, publish, and use reliable data about how often and how badly people react to vaccines; and (5) recommend to the Director of the National Vaccine Program what vaccine-injury research should be done under this part of the law.