WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two bills introduced in Congress this month would effectively end the long-standing legal immunity protected by pharmaceutical companies for any injuries caused by their vaccines or any of their medical “countermeasures” used during declared emergencies. The two bills are the “End the Vaccine Carveout Act” (H.R. 4668), introduced by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), and the “PREP Repeal Act” (H.R. 4388), introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).

Together, these bills ensure vaccine-injured Americans have the right to sue the companies that caused them harm – just like for any other product.

Specifically, the “End the Vaccine Carveout Act:”

• Repeals the legal immunity given to vaccine manufacturers under the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA), allowing injured persons to pursue a civil action against said manufacturer in state or federal court.

• Removes the statute of limitations on seeking compensation for vaccine injuries.  

• Removes the liability shield provided to the manufacturers of the COVID-19 shot under the PREP Act, allowing individuals to sue said manufacturers directly for any injuries sustained from the COVID shot.  

Similarly, the “PREP Repeal Act:”

• Repeals the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act in its entirety, which since 2005 has prevented individuals “from holding corporations accountable for the pain and suffering they cause during presidentially declared emergencies.”

• Allows individuals harmed by protected pandemic products (including but not limited to vaccines) to file civil suits in state or federal court.

• Applies retroactively.

Background

By the time a child is 18, the CDC recommends they receive up to 85 doses of multiple vaccines. Prior to the NCVIA, the recommendation was around 11 doses, with far fewer vaccines.

The dramatic rise in vaccines resulted after lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers increased substantially in the 1970s and 1980s, leading to massive payouts to the vaccine injured. Rather than focusing on how to produce better products, vaccine manufacturers lobbied Congress for a fix. In 1986, Congress responded by passing the NCVIA, which almost entirely shields vaccine manufacturers from being sued by those harmed by their products.

Just under two decades later, Congress gave vaccine manufacturers even more protection via the PREP Act, which was born as a reaction to the possibility of large-scale pandemics.

Both acts formed taxpayer-funded, government-run “compensation programs” through which injured parties are meant to seek compensation for vaccine injuries: the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) and the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP). Like most government-run programs, they are utterly inefficient and fail to adequately achieve their intended purpose, leaving numerous vaccine-injured Americans to suffer the consequences. Indeed, in the entire 37-year history of the VICP, 28,000 claims have been filed (the majority were dismissed), and an estimated 4,500-45,000 per year likely go unreported. Individuals who have sought justice under the CICP faced an even worse fate. With more than 14,000 claims filed since 2010, most are still under review, but a vast majority of those that have been reviewed – 4,864 of 4,979 – were denied. As of June 1 of this year, the CICP has compensated a mere 34 claims for injuries suffered due to protected medical “countermeasures” (namely, vaccines). For claims related to the COVID shot specifically, the vast majority of the few claims that have been deemed worthy of compensation were compensated at less than $6,000.

If these two laws are enacted, individuals can sue the manufacturer if a drug causes harm and then the legal system can hold accountable those responsible. Until then, government-run “compensation” programs protect pharmaceutical companies if their product causes harm at the taxpayer’s expense.

Time to End This Insanity

On July 28, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced sweeping changes for the VICP, which has, in his words,

“[D]evolved into a morass of inefficiency, favoritism, and outright corruption as government lawyers and the Special Masters who serve as Vaccine Court judges prioritize the solvency of the HHS Trust Fund, over their duty to compensate victims. ... The defendant is HHS, not the vaccine makers; and claimants are therefore facing the monumental power and bottomless pockets of the U.S. government represented by the Department of Justice.”

While long overdue, this reform does not address the core issue: Big Pharma has been given a legal immunity enjoyed by no other industry, leading to an out-of-control vaccine schedule (in 1985, there were 8 recommended vaccines prior to a child’s second birthday; today, there are 16 recommend vaccines before age two), massive profits, and thousands of injured.

Liberty Counsel Action Chairman Mat Staver said, “Big Pharma should no longer receive special treatment. The pharmaceutical vaccine industry is the only business sector that can produce and distribute a product which causes injury or death and not face any consequences. Giving legal immunity to vaccine makers and distributers that rake in hundreds of billions of dollars in profit with no financial risk places the health and safety of the public at extreme risk. Big Pharma should be held accountable for the harm caused by its vaccine products.”

For further information on the NCVIA and PREP Act, visit our website here.

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