Legislative Issues

PREP Act Immunity: The PREP Act has provided near bulletproof immunity for pharmaceutical manufacturers such as Pfizer and Moderna.
Inadequate Compensation Program: COVID vaccine-injured are forced to lodge claims with an inefficient and inadequate program known as the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP); they are not eligible for compensation under the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP).
CICP Rejection Rate: 98% rejection rate with 11 awards for under $42K combined.
CAREFUND: Over $750K average grant $6800.
Payouts Since 2010:
- VICP: $2.6 billion
- CICP: $6 million

Filing Deadline: Claims must be filed within one year of vaccine administration. It often takes over a year for the vaccine injured to understand the nature and extent of their injuries.
Standard of Proof: The CICP requires “compelling, reliable, valid medical and scientific evidence” that the vaccine directly caused their injury. However, as COVID vaccine injuries are novel in nautre, sufficient evidence simply does not yet exist for the injured to prove their case.
Double Standard: Unlike VICP, CICP does not provide for attorneys’ fees, expert fees, or pain and suffering damages.

#Problems with the Pandemic All-Hazards Preparedness and Response Act - S. 2333 (PAHPA)

Only two sections of S. 2333 are intended to achieve signification reform on behalf of the COVID-19 vaccine-injured
- Section 301 - Transition of Certain Countermeasures Between Compensation Programs: Despite its title, this section does not transfer COVID-19 CICP claims to the VICP. Rather it simply sets the groundwork for transfer of claims that are filed in the wrong program. Unfortunately, this section may be erroneously understood to have transferred our cases to the VICIP.
- Section 303: Increases the CICP filing deadline but fails to provide attorney and expert fees, does not permit damages for pain and suffering, and fails to address the unrealistic standard of proof for non-table injuries.

Fair Treatment of the COVID-19 Vaccine Injured: Shift pending COVID-19 vaccine claims from the CICP to VICP.
Improve VICP:
- Ensure consumers have sufficient time to file claims: Increase the statute of limitations from 3 years to 5 years
- Reduce case backlog: Expand the number of Special Masters from a ceiling of 8 to a floor of 10; Permit Special Masters to serve for multiple terms.
- Fair Compensation: Increase the cap on damages from $250K to $600K for pain and suffering/death; Establish an inflation-based formula to automatically increase the cap moving forward.
- Require HHS to add a CDC-recommended vaccine or injury to the injury table within 6 months of a recommendation.

Require the Pharmaceutical Companies to Pay Their Fair Share: Streamline the application of the 75-cent excise tax on covered-vaccine doses by eliminating the requirement that Congress pass legislation to apply the tax each time a new vaccine is added to the VICP.