Gohmert files bill to hold pharma accountable

U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert from Texas has introduced a bill to hold pharmaceutical companies liable for injuries caused by publicly mandated vaccine.

“The immense human suffering our country experienced due to the disgraceful COVID-19 vaccine mandates must never happen again,” said Rep. Gohmert. “Through their reckless edict, the Biden Administration forced many Americans to choose between maintaining their livelihoods and protecting their bodily autonomy from an experimental vaccine—one that we now have come to learn does not protect against infection or transmission. Even more important than the financial ruin the mandates have caused to so many Americans are the clear and present dangers these vaccines can pose to the health and safety of those who have received it.

“If the United States government wishes to force Americans to take an experimental vaccine, the U.S. Constitution and human rights norms dictate that it must make the case and convince Americans that it is safe and effective, respecting informed consent and the right to refuse. If the U.S. government refuses to honor even the most basic individual right in such matters, then no reasonable person would argue that there should also be immunity from liability for the very products being forced into the populace. This bill would rightly eliminate liability protection for pharmaceutical manufacturers for any vaccine subject to a mandate. It is time pharmaceutical companies stand behind their products and face accountability when necessary.”

Statistics and records have shown that the Covid-19 vaccines have injured thousands, and many refused to receive the vaccine under pressure and threat of loss of livelihoods. The biggest issue beyond the medical injuries and loss of jobs, is a citizen’s right to protect their bodily autonomy from an experimental vaccine, which has not proven safe of effective – and forced without full disclosure of side effects.

The bill states: To amend titles III and XXI of the Public Health Service Act to hold vaccine manufacturers liable for injuries caused by vaccines subject to a public mandate, and for other purposes.

Due to the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA), vaccine manufacturers cannot be held liable for vaccine-related injuries and death. Before the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, vaccine manufacturers were liable for damages caused by vaccines. If there were any signs of detrimental side effects, the vaccine would be pulled from the market and investigated more thoroughly.

But not anymore. Today, Big Pharma companies that develop vaccines have no financial risk if they cause injuries, permanent disability, or death.

Companies like Pfizer (who in 2009, agreed to pay $2.3 billion in a criminal and civil liability lawsuit stemming from the illegal promotion of certain drugs, the largest healthcare fraud settlement in history), are protected by the law and the taxpayer is on the hook to pay claims against them on vaccine injuries – leaving pharma totally unaccountable.

The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) of 1986 (42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa-1 to 300aa-34) was signed into law by United States President Ronald Reagan and acknowledged that vaccine injuries and deaths are real and that the vaccine injured and their families should be financially supported and that vaccine safety protections were needed in the mass vaccination system. The law set up The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, a no-fault alternative to the traditional legal system for resolving vaccine injury petitions.

A court-appointed special master decides whether the petitioner should be compensated, often after holding a hearing in which both parties can present evidence. If compensation is awarded, the special master determines the amount and type of compensation.

The special master’s decision may be appealed and petitioners who reject the decision of the court (or withdraw their petitions within certain timelines) may file a claim in civil court against the vaccine company and/or the health care provider who administered the vaccine.

The law preserved the right for vaccine-injured persons to bring a lawsuit in the court system if federal compensation is denied or is not sufficient or when there was evidence a drug company could have made a vaccine safe.

Just over a year ago, the backlog of claims by people who allege they’ve been injured from the COVID19 vaccine stood at nearly 2,300. At the end of 2022, the number had risen to more than 7,500.

At the current pace, it will take decades for the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program - which prior to 2020 had decided fewer than 500 cases in its entire history.

To date, the CICP has approved a total of 12 COVID19 vaccine injury claims (dollar amounts to be determined) since the shots became available two years ago. Ten are for people who developed myocarditis, one is for pericarditis and one for anaphylaxis.

Another 68 claims have been denied, though the program does not publicly specify why. The rest — around 7,544 - remain in limbo.