Senate Republicans and Democrats neared a deal Tuesday on changes to a vaccine liability law that only a few months ago had provoked partisan controversy.

Under a bill expected to be approved today by a Senate committee, manufacturers would be given new protections against lawsuits from plaintiffs who allege injuries caused by vaccines or their components.

Republicans won enactment of similar language last fall when Congress approved the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. The provisions were slipped into the homeland security bill at the last minute.

But GOP leaders were forced to repeal the provisions in February after Democrats and a handful of centrist Republicans complained that they amounted to an unjustifiable break for certain drug companies.

Now, the bid to help vaccine makers has fresh momentum, thanks to some concessions to Democrats. Its chief sponsor is Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), a medical doctor.

"It has been improved," said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), "and in spite of some misgivings, I think many of us would be inclined to support it."

The vaccine bill is one of several Republican initiatives to limit liability for businesses facing civil lawsuits. Other measures, viewed skeptically by many Democrats, would modify legal rules for class-action lawsuits and litigation connected to asbestos, gun makers and medical malpractice.

Negotiators on the vaccine bill were struggling late Tuesday over key details. But the apparent bipartisan support that has developed for it reflects a consensus dating to 1986 that the federal government should steer victims of vaccine-related injuries to settle claims out of court.

In that year, Congress created the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Using funds from a 75-cent tax on each dose of a vaccine, the program awards damages for vaccine-related injuries. Like the current legislation, the 1986 law sought to limit legal exposure for vaccine makers to boost an industry considered essential for public health.

Awards for vaccine-related injuries, under the current program, have averaged about $824,000. Most claimants are allowed to file suit in civil court only after they have gone through the compensation program and rejected its results.

But the program is not all-encompassing. Some people have alleged that the components of vaccines, rather than the vaccines themselves, have caused injuries and that because of that they are entitled to pursue damages outside of the compensation program.

That has given rise to a spate of lawsuits in connection with thimerosal, a mercury-based vaccine preservative, which some people allege has caused autism in children. Defendants, including pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly & Co., strongly deny any link between thimerosal and autism. The preservative, made by Lilly, has nonetheless been phased out in pediatric vaccines.

The Frist bill would tighten the law to ensure that alleged injuries caused by vaccine components would be treated like those caused by vaccines, and therefore steered into the compensation program.

To offset this new restriction, which could quash some pending lawsuits, the bill would raise the cap on damages for a victim's pain and suffering to $350,000 from the current $250,000. (More can be awarded for economic loss and medical expenses.)

The bill also would, for the first time, allow parents, spouses and guardians of victims to seek compensation themselves through the program. And it would give alleged victims more time to file claims - - six years after the first symptom of an injury, instead of the current three.

Frist said Tuesday his bill "treats people fairly" while stabilizing a vaccine industry that must respond to bioterrorism and other health threats.

"It stops once and for all the frivolous lawsuits that are putting our children's future at risk," he said. He cited endorsements for the measure from the American Academy of Pediatrics and others.

The bill is pending before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Sens. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, top Democratic negotiators, said they were optimistic about reaching a deal.

"The motivations are to make sure that kids get vaccinated," Dodd said. "I'm interested in getting this done. I don't want to have an acrimonious, partisan debate."

This Article has been submitted by the Jeremy's Prophecy Dot Com team for informational and educational purposes. Jeremy's Prophecy Dot Com is a website dedicated to telling the story of Jeremy Jacobs, a character in the novel, Jeremy's Prophecy Dot Com.