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🌊 The Facts on Vaccine Courts

Vaccine makers are protected by law. RFK Jr. says it’s gone too far.

RFK Jr.

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By Max Frost

In 1982, NBC aired a documentary: “DPT: Vaccine Roulette.” In it, one parent after another discussed how the DPT (diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus) vaccine caused their child to suffer terrible consequences, from seizures to learning problems and brain injuries. 

The documentary accelerated the growth in people who believed that vaccines – usually, but not just, the DPT one – had injured their children. The product was a wave of crippling lawsuits.

Vaccine makers faced massive liabilities and potential bankruptcy, putting the American vaccine industry at risk of collapse. Rather than let that happen, Congress intervened and created the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), or “Vaccine Court.”

Perhaps the court’s most prominent critic – RFK Jr. – now leads the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), thereby overseeing the VICP. Last month, he said that it had “devolved into a morass of inefficiency, favoritism, and outright corruption.” He promised to “revolutionize” it.

Today, we look at the vaccine court: Should it exist? What are the criticisms and defenses of it? What can RFK Jr. do to it? That’s the subject of this deep-dive. 

The rest of this report is for paid subscribers, who fund our journalism. If you start a two-week free trial today, you’ll be automatically entered to win a free year. Once you sign up, you can access all of our articles here!

Editor’s Note

A lengthy article today but one we figured you all would find interesting. Now, we want to know what you think: Is this a case of politicizing a scientific body? Or is an overhaul long overdue? Should vaccine manufacturers be so protected? Let us know what you think.

A number of you wrote in yesterday in response to our story on Akron, Ohio. We’re sharing a few of those emails below.

Morgan wrote:

I live in Connecticut. Your OTG here was excellent, and we appreciate your work.  The effects of deindustrialization and migration are something people talk about here a lot, but they can't quite put their finger on the core of the issues. 

I'm really looking forward to the rest of your rust belt reports. A life without opportunity is a life without hope, and these people unable to find work are hopeless.  It's helping me understand and put words my underlying feelings about the elections. Understanding the history of our country and its economic shift, the repercussions of that, and how it's reflected in politics today. 

As a side note, I saw a map last week of the top earning industries in every state in 1990 and today. In 1990, every state's leading industry was manufacturing. Today, manufacturing was nowhere on the map and every state's leading industry was Healthcare.  If blue collar jobs have been significantly reduced and led us to where we are today, the wave of AI taking white collar jobs could cut our lifeline. 

Thank you for what you do

Anne from Richland Hills, TX wrote:

You have covered other cities with the same story of decline - and thank you for that. 

The addition at the end of the story concerning the promise of new industries is like salve on an open wound - the beginning of healing and regrowth.

Supposedly, billions, maybe trillions of dollars have  been "pledged" by American and foreign companies (and some governments) that willÄĄ build American manufacturing back up.  

City leaders, one hopes, have learned that diversification of industry, instead of just one kind concentrated in one locality is the way to prevent the deterioration that you so eloquently report.

But the immediate information that people need now (and I'd love to see you report on this) is where this pledged money is being spent. Is it being spent? When and where are these promised factories, plants, and industries being built?  What will be manufactured?  And where?   How many people will each employ?  

Reporting on the problems and how they got so bad is part of the story.  Information to build one's future on is of utmost importance now, and that is the second part of the story.

Thank you for the real journalism that you deliver every day!

And Teresa wrote:

Wonder how tariffs play into the tire industry history. Regardless, certainly spotlights the importance of innovation. Tragic story. The on-the-ground results must play out elsewhere and ripple out. I must say how much we value your commitment to reporting, also we only guess at the weight it carries on you and your staff. May you make the opportunity to step back and achieve balance in your lives. Thank you.

And if you missed any of our latest reports, find them here:

Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.
—Max and Max