Lawsuit demands HHS Secretary Becerra follow federal law and add COVID vaccine to Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP)
A federal lawsuit filed today alleges that the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) has failed to meet the deadline required by federal law to include the COVID-19 vaccine in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). Suit was filed in Federal District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of Paul Brundage (Case No: 25-119). Mr. Brundage suffered a severe blood-clotting disorder after getting a COVID-19 vaccination. The suit seeks to compel the HHS Secretary to comply with federal law and provide a legal mechanism to compensate vaccine injured people.
HHS Secretary misses deadline
The lawsuit alleges Secretary Xavier Becerra failed to amend the Vaccine Injury Table as required by federal law within two years of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommending the COVID-19 vaccine for routine administration to those age 18 and under. Until the COVID vaccine is covered by the VICP, people like Mr. Brundage cannot seek payment of medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other compensation granted by the Vaccine Act.
Congress must step up to fund compensation for vaccine injuries
After the Secretary adds the COVID vaccine to the Vaccine Injury Table, Congress will then need to authorize a payment of 75-cents from vaccine manufacturers to the VICP for each future COVID vaccine dose sold. As soon as Congress authorizes the 75-cent payment, Americans who have suffered severe COVID adverse vaccine reactions will be eligible to seek compensation from the VICP.
Current compensation program fails COVID vaccine victims
13,555 people in the United States filed compensation claims for severe injuries caused by the COVID vaccine, as of December 1, 2024. Unfortunately, until the Secretary complies with the Vaccine Act and Congress can authorize the 75-cent payment, available compensation for those injured is little to nonexistent.
CICP: A broken system that denies victims justice
Although similar sounding in name to the VICP, the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP) is presently the only source of compensation for COVID vaccine injuries. Unfortunately, it provides no real recourse or compensation to people suffering serious COVID vaccine injuries.
Vaccine adverse reaction claims under the VICP are brought in the United States Court of Federal Claims, a federal court of national jurisdiction. In contrast, CICP claims never see a courtroom or judge. Instead, they are decided in a secret internal process by HHS.
Unsurprisingly, despite the 13,555 people who filed COVID vaccine injury claims with the CICP, only 20 have been awarded compensation. Except for compensation in one death case, the average award to these people for their severe injuries is approximately $4-thousand dollars each.
Legal experts hold government accountable for their inaction on vaccine injuries
“We have so far failed to honor our obligation to those Americans seriously injured by adverse reactions to the COVID vaccine,” said Anne Toale, an mctlaw partner who has represented clients in the VICP for over two decades. “The Secretary needs to immediately comply with federal law and add the COVID vaccine to the Vaccine Injury Table, Congress must authorize the 75-cent payment, and then we can compensate these people for their injuries.”
“The only option right now for people injured by the COVID vaccine is the CICP, which for most is worse than nothing,” says Altom Maglio, the mctlaw attorney representing Mr. Brundage in the citizen suit. “The sooner the COVID vaccine is covered by the VICP, the sooner we can work to get injured folks their medical expenses, lost wages, and other money they urgently need.”
