Paul Gosar and the End the Vaccine Carveout Act
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr wants to help Paul Gosar and other extremists in Congress undo the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986
Why does Paul Gosar, a dentist and Congressman from Arizona, want to reverse a 1986 law that helped keep vaccine manufacturers from going out of business?
It’s not to hard to understand when you realize that his press release introducing the bill is full of anti-vaccine talking points…
Understanding the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986
Before we get to Gosar’s bill, let’s talk about the law that he is hoping to undo.
The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986:
created a National Vaccine Program “to: (1) direct vaccine research and development within the Federal Government; (2) ensure the production and procurement of safe and effective vaccines; (3) direct the distribution and use of vaccines; and (4) coordinate governmental and nongovernmental activities.”
established the National Vaccine Advisory Committee “to recommend: (1) ways to encourage the availability of an adequate supply of vaccines; and (2) research priorities.”
created the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP), “a no-fault alternative to the traditional tort system.”
established the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines “to: (1) advise the Secretary on the implementation of the Program; (2) recommend changes to the Vaccine Injury Table; and (3) recommend research priorities.”
A law that was enacted in response to all of the “frivolous” lawsuits against manufacturers of the DPT vaccine in the early and mid 1980s.
Vaccine lawsuits that helped raise the prices of vaccines and drove some vaccine manufacturers out of business.
Vaccine lawsuits that failed in other countries because courts understood that they were frivolous!
The kind of vaccine lawsuits that will return, as it is easy to see that anti-vaccine influencers try to blame anything and everything that happens to someone in the days, weeks, months, and years after they are vaccinated on vaccines.
Paul Gosar and the End the Vaccine Carveout Act
Again, it’s not to hard to understand the motivation for Paul Gosar’s bill when you see that his press release introducing the bill is full of anti-vaccine talking points.
What anti-vaccine talking points?
Well, Gosar starts by saying that the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 left “tens of thousands of people without the ability to seek legal justice and compensation for injuries caused by vaccines.”
That’s an old, but common anti-vaccine talking point!
Anyone who has been injured by a vaccine can seek compensation through the Vaccine Court. After this, they may be able to file a civil action against the vaccine manufacturer.
What else?
Gosar writes that that an IOM report said that “98% of injuries studied were either caused by or may have been caused by a vaccine.”
An IOM report that concluded that the MMR vaccine is not associated with autism and certainly did not say that many or most of the adverse events studied were caused by vaccines.
Or even that they may have been caused by vaccines.
That statement is pure propaganda.
Not surprisingly, Gosar doesn’t mention the more recent 2013 IOM report on The Childhood Immunization Schedule and Safety, which found that recommended vaccine schedule is safe and that we have strong vaccine surveillance safety systems.
Nor does Gosar mention the 2014 AHRQ report on Safety of Vaccines Used for Routine Immunization in the United States, which concluded that serious adverse events from vaccines were extremely rare.
Paul Gosar Introduces Anti-Vaccine Talking Points Into His Press Release
Gosar also states that “Another government study found that while vaccines caused injuries in 10 percent of cases, only one percent get reported, meaning those injured by vaccines are vastly undercounted.”
Ready for a shocker?
That wasn’t a government study.
It was a study by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Inc. and it didn’t find that only one percent of vaccine injuries got reported or that vaccines caused injuries in 10% of cases!
“Preliminary data were collected from June 2006 through October 2009 on 715,000 patients, and 1.4 million doses (of 45 different vaccines) were given to 376,452 individuals. Of these doses, 35,570 possible reactions (2.6 percent of vaccinations) were identified.”
Electronic Support for Public Health–Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (ESP:VAERS)
It found that vaccines caused adverse reactions in 2.6% of cases, which of course includes many mild reactions, like local pain and fever.
More importantly, as an EHR-based adverse event detection and reporting system, ESP:VAERS can detect any and all reactions that a patient reported to their provider after getting vaccinated.
“Furthermore, according to the Center for Disease Control’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, nearly 20,000 Americans were reported as having been killed to date by a COVID-19 vaccine, equating to one death for every 14,000 people vaccinated, much higher than the one in a million deaths that is normally cited for dangerous vaccines.”
Gosar Introduces Legislation to Sue Big Pharma for Vaccine Injuries.
Gosar also misuses VAERS, which is scary for a congressman who is introducing legislation that in doing away with the NVICP, could leave us without vaccines to protect ourselves and our families from life-threatening diseases.
What else?
Gosar talks about Big Pharma and “harmful vaccines,” but never once mentions all of the benefits of vaccines and the millions of lives they have saved.
He even ends his press release with quotes from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr and Mary Holland, folks who have made millions pushing misinformation and propaganda about vaccines...
Senator Ted Kennedy understood that vaccines were safe and essential, with few risks. That’s why he helped get the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 passed.
“Vaccines are among the most effective public health interventions, preventing deaths and injuries from diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus and hepatitis. For decades, Senator Kennedy fought to increase funding and resources to increase childhood immunization rates in the United States. He enacted laws strengthening the National Immunization Program and championed federal funding of the Vaccines for Children Program, which purchases pediatric vaccines for all Medicaid-eligible, uninsured, under-insured and Native American children. The National Immunization Program and the Vaccines for Children program provide over $1.3 billion in vaccines to children in Massachusetts and across the country each year.”
Senator EdwardM. Kennedy. 1932-2009. A LIFETIME OF SERVICE. Fighting for Quality, Affordable Health Care
Sadly, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr wants to undo that work
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr wants to undo the legacy of his uncle.
And Paul Gosar has concepts of plan to help him do it…
References
H.R.5546 - National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. 99th Congress (1985-1986). https://www.congress.gov/bill/99th-congress/house-bill/5546
Gosar Introduces Legislation to Sue Big Pharma for Vaccine Injuries. https://gosar.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=8582
Electronic Support for Public Health–Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (ESP:VAERS). https://digital.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/docs/publication/r18hs017045-lazarus-final-report-2011.pdf
Institute of Medicine. 2012. Adverse Effects of Vaccines: Evidence and Causality. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13164.
Institute of Medicine. 2013. The Childhood Immunization Schedule and Safety: Stakeholder Concerns, Scientific Evidence, and Future Studies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13563
Maglione MA, Gidengil C, Das L, Raaen L, Smith A, Chari R, Newberry S, Hempel S, Shanman R, Perry T, Goetz MB. Safety of Vaccines Used for Routine Immunization in the United States. Evidence Report/Technology Assessment No. 215. (Prepared by the Southern California Evidence-based Practice Center under Contract No. 290-2007-10062-I.) AHRQ Publication No. 14-E002-EF. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; July 2014. www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/reports/final.cfm. DOI: https://doi.org/10.23970/AHRQEPCERTA215.
October 18, 1986 Vol. 132, Part 23 — Bound Edition 99th Congress - 2nd Session. Vol.132, Part 23 - Senate pages 33703 - 33914 (PDF 78MB)
Edward M. Kennedy Senate Files. "Face Off" Audio Recordings, 1986-1993. "Face Off" Child Vaccine Omnibus Bill, [ca. January 1987]. https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/emksen-au0006-001-026
Senator EdwardM. Kennedy. 1932-2009. A LIFETIME OF SERVICE. Fighting for Quality, Affordable Health Care. http://www.tedkennedy.org/service/item/health_care.html