Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has floated a seismic idea: adding autism to the list of conditions covered by the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The program, known as VICP, provides a system for families to file claims against vaccine providers in cases in which they experience severe side effects. Kennedy has also suggested broadening the definitions of two serious brain conditions — encephalopathy and encephalitis — so that autism cases could qualify.

Either move, experts warn, would unleash a flood of claims, threatening the program’s financial stability and handing vaccine opponents a powerful new talking point.

Legally, HHS “is required to undergo notice and comment rulemaking to revise the table,” said Richard Hughes, a law firm partner who teaches at George Washington University. The “table” is a list of specific injuries that the U.S. government accepts as presumed to be caused by a vaccine if those injuries occur within a certain time window. If someone can show they meet the criteria, they have a simpler path to securing compensation without having to prove fault. Autism is not in the table because a link between vaccines and autism has been thoroughly debunked.

If autism is added, Hughes explained, the VICP could face “an exorbitant number of claims that would threaten the viability of the program.”

Asked about its possible plans, an HHS spokesperson told CBS News the agency does not comment on future or potential policy decisions.

Carole Johnson, former administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, which oversees VICP, cautioned that the system is already overburdened: “The backlog is not just a function of management, it’s built into the statute itself. That’s important context for any conversation about adding new categories of claims.”

Dorit Reiss, a law professor at the University of California College of the Law-San Francisco, said that any such change would be exploited: “This can, and likely will, be used to cast doubt on vaccines.”

Compensation Without Causation

The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was born of crisis. In 1982, “Vaccine Roulette,” a television documentary, aired nationwide, alleging routine childhood shots were causing seizures, brain damage, and even sudden infant death. The program alarmed parents and triggered a surge of lawsuits against vaccine makers.

“That led to a flood of litigation against vaccine makers,” recalled Paul Offit, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and vaccine inventor at the University of Pennsylvania. “I mean, to the point that it drove them out of the business. … By the mid-1980s, there were $3.2 billion worth of lawsuits against these companies.”

Were it not for the VICP, Offit said, “We wouldn’t have vaccines for American children. The companies — it wasn’t worth it for them.”

The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 created a no-fault system. Families who believed a vaccine caused harm could file a claim; if the injury appeared on the table within a set time frame, compensation was automatic. If not, claimants could present medical evidence. The system had two purposes: provide compensation and protect the vaccine supply.

From the beginning, the table was understood not as a scientific document but as a legal tool.

“It’s a legal document and things can be included for policy reasons even if the causation evidence is weak,” Reiss said. She explained, “The program is designed to be generous, to compensate in cases of doubt.”

But, she said, “autism is not in that category. The science is clear. Adding it would be pure politics.”

This tension — between law, science, and public perception — has defined the program for nearly four decades.

What Expansion Would Mean in Practice

Since 1988, federal data shows more than 25,000 petitions to the VICP have been adjudicated; of those, 12,019 were granted compensation and 13,007 were dismissed. About 60% of compensated cases involved negotiated settlements in which HHS drew no conclusion about the cause. Over the same period, billions of vaccine doses were safely administered to millions of Americans.

Adding autism to the VICP table would change that picture overnight.

Federal estimates suggest up to 48,000 children could qualify immediately under a “profound autism” standard, with potential payouts averaging $2 million per case, at an initial cost of nearly $100 billion, followed by annual totals of about $30 billion a year — dwarfing the current $4 billion trust, a new analysis finds.

“Any case where the symptoms appeared in the past eight years and the parents blame vaccines,” Reiss said. “I don’t know how many that would be. The fund has a surplus of over $4 billion. One seriously disabled child’s care can cost millions, so a significant number, say 100,000 compensations, might exhaust it.”

Furthermore, with only eight special masters handling cases, the system would also be paralyzed by backlogs.

The stakes are not just fiscal. If the fund collapses under the weight of autism claims, vaccine makers may question whether producing vaccines for the U.S. market is worth the risk. That would mirror the crisis of the 1980s, which led to the establishment of the VICP.

Autism and the Courts

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Andrew Wakefield’s now-retracted paper alleging a link between the MMR vaccine and autism fueled a surge of VICP claims. By 2002, the VICP was swamped with petitions alleging vaccines had caused autism. The court consolidated thousands of cases into the Omnibus Autism Proceedings, selecting a handful of test cases to decide them all.

After years of hearings and expert testimony, the conclusion was unequivocal: vaccines do not cause autism. In 2010, the court ruled against petitioners on every theory of causation. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims affirmed, and the Court of Appeals upheld, the decision.

“That precedent is binding,” said Richard Hughes, a vaccine law expert at George Washington University and former VICP legal counsel. “Autism was litigated thoroughly and rejected. That still carries weight in the court today.”

The Ghost of Hannah Poling

Yet, the vaccine-autism debate has never quite faded. In 2008, the government conceded a case involving Hannah Poling, a girl with a rare mitochondrial disorder who developed autism-like symptoms after vaccination. Officials stressed the concession was specific to her condition, not evidence of a general link. But headlines told another story: “Family to Receive $1.5 Million in First-Ever Vaccine Autism Court Award.”

The Poling case fueled years of confusion.

Autism Science Today

The science is clearer than ever. Autism begins early in pregnancy, not in toddlerhood when most vaccines are given.

“Vaccinations … happened around the time families were recognizing symptoms of autism in their children,” said Catherine Lord, a UCLA clinical psychologist and specialist in autism diagnosis. “However, we now know that autism begins much earlier, likely as the fetus develops during pregnancy, so it cannot be an explanation.”

Peter Hotez, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and vaccine scientist at the Baylor College of Medicine who is also the father of a young adult with autism, underscores that point: “The drivers of autism are genetics and, in rare cases, environmental exposures during pregnancy, not vaccines. We’ve been over this ground for decades, and the evidence is overwhelming.”

Sarah Despres, former legal counsel to the secretary of Health and Human Services in the Biden administration and now a consultant to nonprofit organizations on immunization policy, adds that the compensation program itself is often misunderstood.

“The table was originally written as a political document,” she said. “The purpose of the program was to be swift, generous, and fair. … There would be cases that may not be caused by the vaccine but would be compensated if you went through this table injury scheme, where you don’t have to prove causation.”

What’s at risk: Harm from the Diseases Themselves

The stakes are not abstract. Measles, one of the most contagious pathogens on Earth, spreads so efficiently that one infected child can transmit it to 90% of susceptible contacts. Before vaccinations began in the 1960s, measles sickened hundreds of thousands annually in the U.S., killing hundreds and causing thousands of cases of encephalitis and lifelong disability. Complications included pneumonia, brain swelling, and, in rare cases, a fatal degenerative brain disorder called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, or SSPE, that can strike years later. This year, a school-age child in Los Angeles County died of SSPE after contracting measles in infancy, before being eligible for vaccination.

Mumps was once a near-universal childhood illness. Though often dismissed as mild, it can cause sterility in men, meningitis, and permanent hearing loss. Outbreaks on college campuses, as recently as the 2000s, showed how quickly it can return when vaccination rates slip.

Rubella, also known as German measles, is mild in most children, but can be devastating during pregnancy. Congenital Rubella Syndrome, or CRS, caused waves of tragedy before the development of the vaccine: Thousands of babies each year were born blind, deaf, with heart defects, or with intellectual disabilities. In medical texts, autism itself is listed as one of CRS’ sequelae, or possible consequences — proof that rubella infection, not vaccination, can contribute to developmental disorders.

Measles, mumps, and rubella “are not trivial,” said Walt Orenstein, former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s immunization program. “Fever, high fever, is common … and they have frequent complications.”

And yet, as these diseases fade from living memory, a counternarrative has gained traction. On Sept. 29, the nonprofit Physicians for Informed Consent, a group that disputes the scientific consensus on vaccines, announced it had mailed its “Silver Booklet” on vaccine safety to every member of Congress, as well as to President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. The book claims that “vaccines are not proven to be safer than the diseases they intend to prevent,” and calls on federal leaders to punish states that restrict vaccine exemptions. (The booklet isn’t free. The group sells copies for $25 on Amazon.)

Scientists say this framing misrepresents the basic math of risk. “Measles is one of the most important infectious diseases in human history,” notes “Plotkin’s Vaccines,” the field’s authoritative textbook. “The widespread use of measles vaccines in the late 20th and early 21st centuries led to a further marked reduction in measles deaths. Measles vaccination averted an estimated 31.7 million deaths from 2000 to 2020.”

Kennedy’s possible move to expand the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program hinges on casting doubt — on suggesting that science is unsettled, that vaccines may be riskier than diseases.

“One tactic used to argue that vaccines cause autism is the use of compensation decisions from the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program to claim such a link,” said Reiss of UC Law-San Francisco. “Even the cases that most closely address the question of vaccines and autism do not show the link that opponents claim exists, and many of the cases used are misrepresented and misused.”

Offit underscores the danger on the perception side. “When people see the Vaccine Injury Compensation program, they assume that any money that is given is because there was a vaccine injury,” he said.

Kathryn Edwards, an expert in pediatric infectious diseases and vaccine safety at Vanderbilt University, said, “Expanding compensation for issues that are not clearly related to vaccines … suggests that these conditions are related to vaccines when they are not.” She compared it to the removal of thimerosal, a preservative dropped from most childhood vaccines to ease public fears, despite no evidence of harm. “Now, we are still suffering from that action.”

Public health experts stress that such narratives invert reality. The very diseases being downplayed once killed or disabled tens of thousands of American children each year. As pediatrician, psychiatrist, and medical historian Howard Markel put it: “Back a hundred years ago, everybody lost a kid or knew a kid who died of one of these diseases. … We never conquer germs, we wrestle them to a draw. That’s the best we do. And so this is a real … handicap to the other side, the microbes who live to infect.”

Families and the Future

The hardest voices to reckon with are those of families. Parents of autistic children often feel abandoned — unsupported by disability programs, exhausted by care needs, searching for answers. Kennedy’s appeal to them is emotional, not scientific.

Reiss noted that families deserve far more support but argues that it shouldn’t come through VICP.

“The program is to award compensation to those injured by vaccines,” she said. “We should have more direct support — disability funding, disability aid. Kennedy has been taking HHS in the opposite direction, cutting services where we need more.”

Despres made the same point: “The goal of the program really was if there’s a close call, we’re going to err on the side of compensation. … And it’s really important that everyone understands that compensation does not mean that the vaccine actually caused the injury. … And I think we have seen statistics around the compensation program misused by those who would want to sow distrust in vaccines, to say vaccines are unsafe, when in fact … that’s not what this is.”

UCLA’s Lord urged a shift in focus. “For the last 50 years, science has focused on the biological causes of autism, which has led to great progress, especially in genetics,” she said. Of Secretary Kennedy, she said, “He could help more by acknowledging the value of science, but also the need to better attend to the actual lives of autistic people and their families.”

What Comes Next?

If Kennedy decides to move forward with such a plan, HHS would need to draft a rule, open it to public comment, and then defend the change in court. The pushback will be fierce: from scientists, from public health leaders, and from families who fear being misled yet again.

The debate over adding autism to the Vaccine Injury Table is not just a policy debate. The program was built on the principle of compensation without causation, a fragile balance designed to sustain both trust and supply. Adding autism could collapse that distinction entirely.

[KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.]

The post Inside the High-Stakes Battle Over Vaccine Injury Compensation, Autism, and Public Trust appeared first on Medika Life.

Dr. Igel’s distinguished career spans both academia and clinical practice. As a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at Weill Cornell Medicine, and an Attending Endocrinologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Dr. Igel has demonstrated unparalleled expertise in the management of a wide range of endocrine disorders, with a specific focus on weight management, post-bariatric surgery care, type 2 diabetes, and other related conditions.

His commitment to advancing diabetes care is evident in his innovative approach, particularly in addressing the often-overlooked connection between diabetes and obesity. Dr. Igel emphasizes a weight-centric approach to diabetes treatment, advocating for medications that are either weight-neutral or lead to weight loss. This approach challenges the status quo in healthcare, where the impact of certain diabetes medications on weight gain is often disregarded.

“The link between diabetes and obesity is complex, and addressing it requires a comprehensive approach,” says Dr. Igel. “We know that over 11% of Americans have diabetes, and a large percentage are actually undiagnosed. Many individuals are in a progression towards diabetes, and much of that progression is closely tied to weight gain that occurs throughout someone’s lifetime. This is why we are committed to continuing our work to improve diabetes care and raise awareness of the critical connection between obesity and diabetes.”

“It is a privilege to recognize Dr. Leon Igel as the Medical Honoree of the Year,” said ADA’s Research Dinner Executive Committee Chair Gil Bashe, Finn Partners. “Obesity is a common, chronic, and progressive disease that is linked to a significant number of diabetes cases every year, and Dr. Igel’s dedication to reshaping diabetes care through his groundbreaking work in obesity management will help improve the lives of many people. His innovative approach and unwavering commitment are invaluable contributions to the field.”

As part of the Intellihealth team, Dr. Igel’s contributions extend beyond clinical practice. Intellihealth is at the forefront of leveraging innovative solutions to improve patient outcomes. Dr. Igel’s work with Intellihealth underscores the company’s dedication to advancing healthcare through research, technology, and patient-centered approaches.

For more information, sponsorships, and tickets, please go to www.diabetes.org/researchdinner2024.

About Intellihealth
Intellihealth is changing the perception of obesity and redefining how it is treated. We offer evidence-based medical obesity treatment that is three times more effective than lifestyle intervention alone. Our product, Evolve^™, enables health care providers to offer effective medical obesity treatment both via telehealth and in person. Our clinical services affiliate, Flyte^™ Medical, provides businesses and healthcare systems the services of experienced clinicians who are passionate about obesity medicine, including physicians, nurse practitioners and registered dietitians. More about Intellihealth, Evolve and Flyte Medical may be found at www.intellihealth.co.

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We know police officers have three things they may share with those who wish to end their misery; high rates of suicide, substance abuse disorders, and marital difficulties. Mental health disorders do not disappear once a uniform is donned. The nature of the job brings them into contact with trauma on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. It is not a job for the faint of heart.

A review of research over the past 20 years on those who choose to commit suicide by cop indicates that the typical perpetrator is a younger white male experiencing romantic relationship conflicts. There is also a significant mental health and criminal history.

The individual is often intoxicated at the time of the incident and is mentally impaired in their ability to recognize what they are pursuing. The most effective interventions by police are expected to be limited to verbal interactions related to the individual’s presenting problems. It’s a process of understanding and going slow. But there’s something more than an attempt at suicide here.

An important aspect of suicide by cops which cannot be ignored is the long-term effects of these types of situations for the police involved, who may experience a level of PTSD not previously explored. And let’s not forget that the incident may happen in a shool where the individual has many students who can be victims which escalates the deadliness of the situation.

In fact, school shootings have become endemic in our 21 Century culture with the ease of obtaining deadly weapons and protective gear. The number of students exposed to school gun violence since the killings at Columbine is an astounding 278,000 at 298 schools. How many of those kids will go on to have lives seriously affected by these shootings?

We know that the police incidence of PTSD related to violence in their line of work is also of great concern. “Approximately 15% of the police officers in the U.S. and globally experience symptoms of PTSD. Numbers can be much higher based on exposure, such as after natural disasters or tragedies like 9/11.”

But one other factor here is the fact that not all police personnel will report their difficulties or seek counseling, fearing it will affect their careers or how they are seen by others. We see the same reluctance to seek help in the military and healthcare professions. The numbers may be quite conservative.

Whether the shooters intended to kill as many victims as possible and, in the process, go out in a blaze of police gunfire is immaterial. The fact remains that mental health issues are becoming a serious concern for police, school safety officers, school administrators, teachers and ancillary school personnel. Anyone is fair game in these shootings and some will be collateral damage of stray bullets in the foray.

How many kids are, realistically, expressing a reluctance or refusal to go to school fearing they may be killed? This is no longer the attachment problems or school concerns we used to see. These kids are terrified and yet we expect them to return to a school where perhaps nothing happened, but they know all about the schools where kids and teachers were killed.

The danger isn’t necessarily from someone who comes into the school; they’re fellow students. Not even the metal detectors (and not all schools have them) are reassurance. Guns aren’t always the weapons used, as we’ve seen in other countries where knives and hammers have been used to harm or kill children.

The kids in Oxford, Michigan had been hearing of concerns about danger and it wasn’t just a silly fantasy, students died. When a ten-year-old boy tells his mother he doesn’t want to go to school and he’s seen the school psychologist once (did the psychologist think that was enough?), what does a parent do? Kids are asking who’s next? One survey found 91% of teachers are stressed.

Will home schooling become more prevalent as little is done to control the killings in schools by controlling their access to guns or treatment for their mental health problems? How many schools have a full-time school nurse available, much less a psychologist or other counselor? The need increase while the access decreases.

The generation growing up now will be in a world very different from the one we knew. Walking to school has already become unacceptable, going to a school wearing a bulletproof backpack may be suggested and school shooting drills will replace the nuclear bomb ones of the 1950s. Now, however, the fear is real, not a world away, but only a classroom away.

Our kids and our police need our support and our help in more ways than we currently know. How can each of us help? The question is vital and we must include it in discussions at school and in our homes.

The post Suicide by Cop Results in Shared Pain and Mental Illness appeared first on Medika Life.

Houston Methodist Chief Executive Officer Dr. Marc Boom notified the staff via email of the new vaccine policy back in March. In April, the Methodist system mandated all staff to begin the vaccination series before Jun 7.

Vaccines reached the arms of 99% of the 26,000 employees, but 117 unvaccinated staff members have filed suit against Houston Methodist over the Covid-19 vaccine requirements.

ABCNews reports the lawsuit alleges that Covid-19 vaccine requirements in the hospital setting are illegal because the three US Covid-19 vaccines are FDA approved only under emergency use authorization. The complaint states the hospital violates the Nurenberg Code.

The Nurenberg Code is a set of medical ethics designed to protect human subjects voluntarily participating in clinical trials. The Nurenberg Code was created more than 70 years ago after the Nurenberg trials exposed the horrific truth of Nazi medical experimentation on Jewish prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Although Houston Methodist was the first hospital to require vaccinations, The decision is backed up by clinical data. A CDC report showed the messenger RNA vaccines are 90 percent effective at preventing COVID-19 infections in healthcare workers and first responders.

The CDC published updated information on healthcare worker vaccine safety and efficacy in the March 29th Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. This update analyzed Covid-19 vaccines in a real-world setting. The findings showed the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna were 90 percent effective at preventing COVID-19 infections among healthcare personnel, first responders, and other essential frontline workers.

Improving the number of vaccinated workers reduces the risk of spreading the infection from health providers to patients.

Houston Methodist’s staff Covid-19 vaccine requirements align with the influenza vaccine policy it implemented in 2009. Religious and medical exemptions are allowed. Pregnant women may choose to wait until after delivery to start the Covid-19 vaccine series. Of note, multiple studies now show Covid-19 vaccines in pregnancy are safe for mom and baby.

The hospital considers employee vaccinations to be a patient safety issue. Like other required hospital vaccinations, employees will not be permitted to return to work unless they are vaccinated.

Most hospitals have an employee vaccination policy to help prevent medical professionals from inadvertently spreading infectious diseases to patients. The CDC recommends vaccinations for healthcare workers. The recommendations include physicians, nurses, emergency medical personnel, dental professionals and students, medical and nursing students, laboratory technicians, pharmacists, hospital volunteers, and administrative staff.

These CDC-recommended vaccinations currently include Hepatitis B, Influenza, MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella), Varicella, and Tdap (Tetanus, Diptheria, Pertussis). Most hospitals also require annual tuberculosis risk assessments.

Vaccinating healthcare workers reduces the risk of hospital-acquired infections. Vaccinations protect hospital staff from infectious disease exposure and reduce the risk of a healthcare worker transmitting an infection to a hospitalized patient.

Updated guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission indicates employers may require vaccination stating “Federal EEO laws do not prevent an employer from requiring all employees physically entering the workplace to be vaccinated for COVID-19, so long as employers comply with the reasonable accommodation provisions of the ADA and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other EEO considerations.”

There are three FDA-approved vaccines for Covid-19 under emergency use authorization. Full FDA approval is expected as the results of ongoing clinical trials are completed and analyzed.

The two messenger RNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer offer 95% protection against Covid-19. The Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna use messenger RNA (mRNA). A single strand of mRNA delivers instructions to human cells to produce an antibody against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.

The Johnson and Johnson’s Janssen vaccine offers 72% protection against infection and 86% against severe disease. The Janssen vaccine uses Adenovirus 26 (AD26) as the vector to deliver DNA material into our cells to provoke an immune response.

The Moderna and Janssen vaccines are approved for those 18 years old and up. The Pfizer vaccine is approved starting at age 16.

All three vaccines are highly effective in preventing death.

The post Unvaccinated Hospital Staff Sues Houston Methodist Over Covid-19 Vaccinations appeared first on Medika Life.

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The quality, relevance and reliability of the content we feature is to a large degree determined by our editors and that’s one of the reasons we are so pleased to welcome Dr Hesham A Hassaballa and Dr Patricia Farrell to Medika in an editorial capacity.

You can read more about each of them on the links below and do peruse their articles. They are also contributors to Medika and their writing offers important and insightful views on their individual fields of expertise.

Do follow them on their social networks and feel free to connect or comment on the articles. If you need advice with regards materials or drafts you’d like to submit to Medika for their particular fields of expertise, you can contact them directly from your profile page.

Dr Hesham A Hassaballa

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Editor: Mental Health

Patricia is a prolific author and you find our more about her and read both her interview and articles from her Medika column. You can view Patricia’s full profile here and read her writing on Medium here.

For more information on the Medika Editorial team, you can refer to this page.

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We do this by amplifying their voices, drawing attention to their businesses, campaigns, crusades, and, occasionally, their plights. We focus on two essential determinant – people and planet. Patient outcomes and planetary sustainability. This is what drives ethical public health and the individuals who place the importance of people’s health at the forefront of their endeavors can count on us for support.

This forward-looking, patient-centered approach fuels much of the new medical and technical innovation occurring right now in healthcare across the globe. Applying the power of social media and the internet to networked groups of individuals across various sectors of healthcare is changing the face of medicine. We are proud to be involved in a pivotal moment in health evolution and privileged to be able to showcase what we consider to be, the best side of humanity.

Motivated individuals, functioning cohesively with one singular goal. The provision of accessible and equitable healthcare as a fundamental global right and an environment that contributes to our well-being. It is ambitious and overdue and we have no doubt that the voices echoing now through health have the focus, desire, and innovative mindsets to deliver. Change is coming, shout it from the hilltops. We do.

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Protecting our User’s and Authors rights

All materials on Medika, unless otherwise noted on the materials, are published under a Creative Commons license (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
CC BY-NC-ND) and we encourage the sharing of these materials subject to the following conditions:

• Proper attribution which must include a link to the material and reflect both the name of the author and the Medika website.
• The reproduced materials should be published in their entirety and not edited or changed. Where portions of text are referenced, please ensure the original intention and context of the author is clearly discernible.
• The referenced materials may not be used for commercial purposes and derivatives are prohibited.
• Click here to view a human readable License deed for the CC BY-NC-ND

For materials that are flagged as not falling under the Creative Commons License, you may still reproduce these if we agree. Please direct an email to copyright@medika.life including the following details;

• Your contact details
• Indicate where you would like to reproduce the material
• A brief explanation of why you wish to use the material
• A clear link to the material you wish to reproduce

Copyright infringement of material published on Medika

If your work has been used in contravention of the above Creative Commons license or other materials you’ve created and published on Medika have been reproduced without your specific consent, please let us know and we will pursue the matter on your behalf. To that end, we will require the following information;

• A link to the article in question on the Medika Server
• Your user name, email and contact number
• A link to the page where your material has been reproduced

This information can be submitted to Medika Life directly from the messaging tab in your profile or you can email copyright@medika.life

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At Medika Life, accessible from https://medika.life, one of our main priorities is the privacy of our visitors. This Privacy Policy document contains types of information that is collected and recorded by Medika Life and how we use it.

We will never sell or share your personal information you provide to us. We consider your information to be confidential and that you have provided it to us in trust. We will honor this by never selling or sharing your data with third parties.

If you have additional questions or require more information about our Privacy Policy, do not hesitate to contact us.

This Privacy Policy applies only to our online activities and is valid for visitors to our website with regards to the information that they shared and/or collect in Medika Life. This policy is not applicable to any information collected offline or via channels other than this website.

Consent

By using our website, you hereby consent to our Privacy Policy and agree to its terms.

Information we collect

The personal information that you are asked to provide, and the reasons why you are asked to provide it, will be made clear to you at the point we ask you to provide your personal information.

If you contact us directly, we may receive additional information about you such as your name, email address, phone number, the contents of the message and/or attachments you may send us, and any other information you may choose to provide.

When you register for an Account, we may ask for your contact information, including items such as name, qualification, address, email address, and telephone number.

How we use your information

We use the information we collect in various ways, including to:

• Provide, operate, and maintain our website
• Improve, personalize, and expand our website
• Understand and analyze how you use our website
• Develop new products, services, features, and functionality
• Communicate with you, including for customer service, to provide you with updates and other information relating to the website, and for marketing and promotional purposes
• Send you emails
• Find and prevent fraud

Log Files

Medika Life follows a standard procedure of using log files. These files log visitors when they visit websites. All hosting companies do this and it is a part of hosting services’ analytics. The information collected by log files include internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date and time stamp, referring/exit pages, and possibly the number of clicks. These are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable. The purpose of the information is for analyzing trends, administering the site, tracking users’ movement on the website, and gathering demographic information.

Cookies and Web Beacons

Like any other website, Medika Life uses ‘cookies’. These cookies are used to store information including visitors’ preferences, and the pages on the website that the visitor accessed or visited. The information is used to optimize the users’ experience by customizing our web page content based on visitors’ browser type and/or other information.

For more general information on cookies, please read “What Are Cookies”.

Google DoubleClick DART Cookie

Google is one of our third-party vendors on our site. It also uses cookies, known as DART cookies, to serve ads to our site visitors based upon their visit to www.website.com and other sites on the internet. However, visitors may choose to decline the use of DART cookies by visiting the Google ad and content network Privacy Policy at the following URL – https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads

Our Advertising Partners

Some of the advertisers on our site may use cookies and web beacons. Our advertising partners are listed below. Each of our advertising partners has their own Privacy Policy for their policies on user data. For easier access, we hyperlinked to their Privacy Policies below.

• Google https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads

Advertising Partners Privacy Policies

You may consult this list to find the Privacy Policy for each of the advertising partners of Medika Life.

Third-party ad servers or ad networks uses technologies like cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons that are used in their respective advertisements and links that appear on Medika Life, which are sent directly to users’ browser. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. These technologies are used to measure the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns and/or to personalize the advertising content that you see on websites that you visit.

Note that Medika Life has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

Third Party Privacy Policies

Medika Life’s Privacy Policy does not apply to other advertisers or websites. Thus, we are advising you to consult the respective Privacy Policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information. It may include their practices and instructions about how to opt-out of certain options.

You can choose to disable cookies through your individual browser options. To know more detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers, it can be found at the browsers’ respective websites.

CCPA Privacy Rights (Do Not Sell My Personal Information)

Under the CCPA, among other rights, California consumers have the right to:

Request that a business that collects a consumer’s personal data disclose the categories and specific pieces of personal data that a business has collected about consumers.

Request that a business delete any personal data about the consumer that a business has collected.

Request that a business that sells a consumer’s personal data, not sell the consumer’s personal data.

If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us.

GDPR Data Protection Rights

We would like to make sure you are fully aware of all of your data protection rights. Every user is entitled to the following:

The right to access – You have the right to request copies of your personal data. We may charge you a small fee for this service.

The right to rectification – You have the right to request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request that we complete the information you believe is incomplete.

The right to erasure – You have the right to request that we erase your personal data, under certain conditions.

The right to restrict processing – You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.

The right to object to processing – You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.

The right to data portability – You have the right to request that we transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.

If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us.

Children’s Information

Another part of our priority is adding protection for children while using the internet. We encourage parents and guardians to observe, participate in, and/or monitor and guide their online activity.

Medika Life does not knowingly collect any Personal Identifiable Information from children under the age of 13. If you think that your child provided this kind of information on our website, we strongly encourage you to contact us immediately and we will do our best efforts to promptly remove such information from our records.

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