Representative Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, is introducing a new legislation on Tuesday that proposes granting Americans the ability to file lawsuits against manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccines over adverse health effects allegedly caused by the shot.
The Let Injured Americans Be Legally Empowered (LIABLE) Act seeks to remove statutory protections for COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers, making them susceptible to civil lawsuits.
“The LIABLE Act will allow Americans who took vaccines that were misleadingly promoted and forced onto many Americans via federal mandates to pursue civil litigation for their injuries. These vaccines were given emergency use authorization unilaterally and did not go through the normal FDA approval process,” states a summary of the bill.
At present, COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers and healthcare providers who distribute them are mostly immune from civil lawsuits, regardless of whether individuals with medical evidence of vaccine-related injuries pursue monetary compensation.
This is because the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act of 2005 restricts liability for the manufacturing, development, and distribution of medical countermeasures during a public health emergency.
The PREP Act also established the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP), which has a one-year time limit for claims and only offers compensation in cases of severe injury or death. Roy noted that despite thousands of claims filed, the CICP has only compensated individuals 11 times.
“Millions of Americans were forced to take a COVID-19 shot out of fear of losing their livelihoods and under false pretenses,” Roy stated.
“Many have faced injury from the vaccine, but few have been afforded…recourse. To date, a mere 11 injury claims have been paid out despite nearly 700 million doses of the vaccine having been administered,” he added.
Although the public health emergency declaration for the COVID-19 pandemic expired last May, liability protections under the PREP Act for the vaccine are anticipated to remain largely in place through the end of this year, as per a report from the Congressional Research Service.
Roy’s LIABLE Act would allow individuals asserting injuries from the vaccine to retroactively sue manufacturers despite the aforementioned protections.
Although recognized for saving numerous lives during the pandemic, the COVID-19 vaccine has also faced criticism from skeptics due to reported side effects including blood clots, strokes, and even sudden death.
Many of these instances still necessitate additional investigation, but it’s a pattern that has raised concerns among Republican lawmakers. They have consistently argued that mandating the COVID-19 vaccine is a violation of Americans’ right to privacy.
Andrew Powaleny, PhRMA spokesperson, criticized the bill in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“COVID-19 has been a reminder of why we need safe and effective vaccines. All vaccines, including those for COVID-19, are subject to a rigorous safety and efficacy review process and post-market monitoring. By upending the existing liability framework manufacturers rely upon to provide predictable vaccine development, our ability to address future public health threats will be at risk,” he said.
Roy has been at the forefront of opposing vaccine mandates, spearheading initiatives to overturn COVID-19 vaccine mandates within the U.S. military.
His latest bill has at least a dozen House GOP co-sponsors.
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