Why is RFK Jr. Blocking Changes that Would Help People Injured by the COVID Vaccine?
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is actively trying to block a lawsuit that could bring long-overdue justice to Americans injured by adverse reactions to the COVID vaccine. The lawsuit, filed by Paul Brundage, asks the Court to force Secretary Kennedy to follow the law and take a required step to add the COVID vaccine to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP).
In a legal filing asking to dismiss the case, Secretary Kennedy argues he is not required to act until Congress passes a 75-cent payment from vaccine manufacturers to fund compensation. But Brundage’s response to the motion says this is contrary to the clear requirements in the law. The Secretary is mandated to add the COVID vaccine.
“The Secretary’s refusal to act is a clear violation of federal law,” said Altom M. Maglio, partner at mctlaw. “The Vaccine Act requires that vaccines recommended by the CDC for children or pregnant women be added to the Vaccine Injury Table within two years. It’s now been significantly longer than two years since that happened and still the Secretary has not done what is required of him.”
In the lawsuit, Brundage’s attorneys state plainly: “The Secretary’s failure to act is not based on a valid interpretation of the law, but on a refusal to comply with it.”
In fact, federal records show that other vaccines, including hepatitis B, Hib, and chickenpox, were added to the Vaccine Injury Table before Congress authorized the 75-cent payment. In those cases, representatives for HHS acknowledged that it had a duty to act as soon as the CDC issued its recommendation.
“This is about protecting real people who did what we asked and got hurt,” Maglio added. “For some inexplicable reason Secretary Kennedy is using technical excuses and bureaucratic red tape to avoid doing what the law clearly requires. Meanwhile, people are suffering.”
Right now, Americans injured by the COVID vaccine are forced to rely on the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP), which the lawsuit points out “has been called by legal commentators a ‘black hole’ and ‘the right to file and lose.’” The CICP has denied nearly 98% of all claims and offers no right to a hearing or appeal. The lawsuit argues that the VICP, unlike the CICP, is a fairer, established system with transparency, access to legal representation, and judicial review.
The response (No. 1:25-CV-00119-SLS) is filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC and asks the Court to compel Secretary Kennedy to follow the law, perform his statutory duties, and stop denying vaccine injured Americans their right to compensation.
About mctlaw
mctlaw is a national law firm that helps people who have been seriously injured by vaccines. The firm has represented thousands of clients in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims through the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Offices are in Washington, DC, Sarasota, FL, and Seattle, WA.
