Per Washington Legal Foundation's suggestion earlier this fall, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a formal declaration this week that those who manufacture, distribute, and administer certain yet-to-be-approved vaccines for the Ebola virus qualify for federal liability protection under the federal Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act).
In our October 30 post, Ebola Vaccine and Treatment Makers Need Liability Protection, we discussed the PREP Act and explained why its protections would be an especially effective incentive for Ebola vaccine research and development. Under the law, those who have been allegedly injured by a vaccine can only sue in federal court if the FDA or the Justice Department investigates and finds willful misconduct by the drug manufacturer. The act preempts all state laws that might limit distribution of the declared countermeasure, and it creates compensation funds for injured parties.
Secretary Burwell's declaration applies to three specific countermeasures that are currently in development. The liability immunity protects manufacturers and distributors regardless of whether a covered vaccine is administered, and applies without geographic limitation. Liability protection related to the administration of a covered vaccine lasts until December 10, 2015, and the declaration extends that protection for manufacturers for an additional year "to allow for the manufacturer(s) to arrange for disposition of the Covered Countermeasure."
Individuals who sustain a "covered serious physical injury as the direct result" of the use of a covered vaccine can seek compensation through a Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program. The burden of proof for such claims is significant:
The causal connection between the countermeasure and the serious physical injury must be supported by compelling, reliable, valid, medical and scientific evidence in order for the individual to be considered for compensation.
We applaud HHS for mitigating the manufacturers' liability exposure and cutting avaricious plaintiffs’ lawyers out of the injury compensation process. Now if only similar measures can be adopted throughout our healthcare system, we might actually begin to bend the cost curve substantially.
