The system for compensating people injured by vaccines needs significant reform. But the health secretary could alter it in ways that ultimately reduce vaccine access for everyone.
For nearly 40 years, a special federal court system has compensated Americans who prove they were harmed by vaccines while also protecting the manufacturers from litigation.
Even the staunchest defenders of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program agree it needs reform. It is slow, understaffed and can feel adversarial to families legitimately in need.
Now Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to overhaul the program, saying he will make it more efficient and speedier for Americans seeking payment.
He said in a social media post last month that the vaccine court had “devolved into a morass of inefficiency, favoritism and outright corruption.” Parents who believe their children were injured by vaccines are “facing the monumental power and bottomless pockets of the U.S. government,” he said.
Mr. Kennedy has also claimed, falsely, that the compensation program prevents families from suing vaccine makers in traditional courts. (This is true of the Covid vaccines, however, which are adjudicated in a separate program.)
And Mr. Kennedy has claimed that the vaccine court punishes and intimidates expert witnesses and petitioners’ attorneys.