Senate Voting on Bill to Bar Civil Liability For Defective Vaccines

On Wednesday, December 21, 2005, the Senate will vote on the vaccine immunity amendment that was just passed by the House. This bill — Section 6 of S. 1873, the Biodefense and Pandemic Vaccine and Drug Development Act of 2005, sponsored by Senator Richard Burr, R-N.C. — would set a dangerous and unprecedented standard of care for drug manufacturers, allowing civil suits only when a drug company has engaged in willful misconduct. Although it is touted as a necessary measure to assure an effective response to the bird flu, in fact it would apply to untold numbers of drugs and would set a frightening precedent in reducing corporate accountability.

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