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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced legislation to end the liability shield for vaccine manufacturers and allow people injured by a vaccine to sue the drug’s manufacturer.
The End the Vaccine Carveout Act is a U.S. Senate companion to the U.S. House of Representatives bill reintroduced by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) in July 2025 under the same name. The House and Senate bills share identical texts.
Paul said in a statement to The Defender that people harmed by drugs can sue in court. “But when it comes to vaccines, and in many cases the COVID vaccine, the rules are rigged: you’re funneled into a federal no-fault program that limits damages, restricts your options, and — in many cases — leaves people without real justice.”
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), the bill’s cosponsor, said:
“Pharma giants are hiding behind legal protections to avoid being sued by Americans experiencing serious vaccine side effects. Americans have a constitutional right to a trial by jury, but current laws allow Big Pharma players to dodge accountability and bar victims from pursuing their cases.
“Many of these patients were forced to get vaccinated or lose their jobs during the pandemic and are now dealing with permanent and very serious complications. Our bill will end these unconstitutional vaccine carveouts so that all Americans can receive the justice they deserve and hold Big Pharma accountable.”
If passed, the bill would reform the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) so that people who suffer vaccine-related injury or death can sue the vaccine manufacturer in state or federal court without first being forced into filing a VICP claim, according to a press release shared with The Defender.
As of press time, the press release had yet to be published.
The bill also strips away the immunity shield for makers and providers of COVID-19 vaccines, established under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act.
The bill would amend the PREP Act by excluding COVID-19 vaccines from the definition of “covered countermeasures.”
The bill, introduced on Feb. 11 by Paul, was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Bill backed by coalition of over 40 groups, individuals
The End the Vaccine Carveout Act is backed by a coalition of over 40 groups and medical freedom advocates, including Children’s Health Defense (CHD), the Brownstone Institute, MAHA Action and Moms Across America.
Commenting on the bill when it was reintroduced in the House last July, CHD CEO Mary Holland said it was “long overdue” for Congress to address the “nightmare” it created by passing the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, which granted vaccine makers liability protection in most situations.
“If vaccines are truly safe as advertised, then there is no reason for them to be exempted from liability, if and when they cause harm,” Holland said.
Congress passed the law after an increasing number of vaccine manufacturers faced costly injury lawsuits in the 1970s and 1980s, according to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia’s History of Vaccines website. It states:
“In this environment of increasing litigation, mounting legal fees, and large jury rewards, many pharmaceutical companies left the vaccine business. By the end of 1984, only one U.S. company still manufactured the DPT [diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus] vaccine, and other vaccines were also losing manufacturers.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) told The Defender he supports ending blanket immunity from liability for vaccines. “It made sense in 1986, when there was a risk of having no vaccine manufacturers, but extending that protection to all new vaccines has led to an explosion in the number of vaccines without adequate safety testing or monitoring.”
Gosar said he strongly supports Paul’s bill. “No product should be shielded from accountability simply because it is labeled a vaccine. Americans deserve equal protection under the law, full transparency, and the right to seek justice when harmed.”
The End the Vaccine Carveout Act restores “fairness, strengthens trust, and puts patients — not special interests — first,” Gosar added.
Attorney Ray Flores praised the bill for raising awareness of “vaccine injustice.”
Flores noted that U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could remove the liability shield for COVID-19 vaccines “with the stroke of a pen” by removing COVID-19 vaccines from the PREP Act’s list of covered countermeasures.
“Unfortunately, bold support appears necessary to empower him to do what he already has the power to do,” Flores said.
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Removing liability shield for vaccines is ‘overwhelmingly popular’ across political parties
According to Johnson, the bill has little chance of passing due to “the religious-like faith in vaccines combined with the financial power of Big Pharma.”
However, recent polling suggests that most U.S. Americans of all political stripes support ending the vaccine manufacturers’ liability shield, according to MAHA Action President Tony Lyons.
In a memo obtained by Politico, Lyons told Republican leaders on Feb. 11 that polling results, gathered by Fabrizio, Lee and Associates, showed that removing the vaccine liability shield is “overwhelmingly popular among Republicans, Democrats, and Independents.”
The memo included a graph depicting how 61%-83% of voters oppose the liability shield, depending on the voter type.
Lyons wrote, “By embracing this policy reform, Congress can demonstrate commitment to improving vaccine safety without alienating any large voting bloc.”
Arkansas state Sen. Bryan King (R) told The Defender, “I’m supportive of what Senator Paul’s trying to do.”
In 2024, King introduced a bill that, if passed, would have set criminal penalties for drug and vaccine manufacturers that knowingly misled people and caused harm. The bill died in 2025 under pressure from the pharmaceutical industry, he said.
Related articles in The Defender
- Rep. Gosar Reintroduces Bill to Strip Liability Protection From Vaccine Makers
- 30 Lawmakers Sponsor Bill to End Liability Protection for Vaccine Makers
- Iowa Bill Would Strip Vaccine Makers of Some Liability Protection for Injuries
- Pfizer CEO: Vaccine Makers Need Liability Shield to Protect Against People Who Claim ‘Accident in a Car Happened Because of a Vaccine’
- Rand Paul Suggests Fauci May Be Forced to Testify Under Oath
