HHS Secretary RFK Jr. Plans Overhaul of Vaccine Injury Program

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced plans to overhaul the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), criticizing it as broken, inefficient, and corrupt. The program, established in 1986 to compensate individuals injured by vaccines and funded by a surcharge on vaccine doses, has paid out over $5.4 billion to more than 12,000 petitioners. Kennedy accused the program's special masters and government lawyers of prioritizing the financial solvency of the HHS Trust Fund over fair compensation, with over half the cases dismissed and others taking years to resolve. He criticized the structure of the program for placing the U.S. government, rather than vaccine manufacturers, as the defendant, creating an imbalance that hinders claimants. Kennedy's push for reform follows his history as a vaccine skeptic and legal advocate against vaccine manufacturers, and he is working with the Department of Justice to enact these changes. This initiative is part of broader vaccine regulatory reforms, including recent changes to the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee.