DeSantis Takes Aim at Vaccine Manufacturer Liability Shield

Governor Ron DeSantis said he would support changes to the liability shield vaccine manufacturers have enjoyed since 1986 if elected President.

"When they did the liability protection, I think it was back in the 80s, I think they honestly believed that, you know if you have trial lawyers coming in it's going to inhibit us developing new cures and new things that will help people," DeSantis told host Shannon Joy on her podcast today.

DeSantis is referring to the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, also known as the Vaccine Act, that provides that "no vaccine manufacturer shall be liable in a civil action for damages arising from a vaccine-related injury or death: (1) resulting from unavoidable side effects; or (2) solely due to the manufacturer's failure to provide direct warnings."

DeSantis said that while he thinks this law was signed with good intent, it has incentivized pharmaceutical companies to put vaccines on the market that may not be safe.

"I think what has happened now it is has shifted incentives actually away from safety," said DeSantis. “The incentives are now to produce anything you can get to the market and then make money off it because you aren’t going to be held accountable for the safety. So yes I would support legislation to fix that because I think we want incentives that are going to be positive for the ultimate health outcome."

"Is the purpose of our health system and these agencies to promote people's health and wellbeing or is it just to let the pharmaceutical companies make more money?" asked DeSantis rhetorically.

DeSantis said the revolving door of pharmaceutical executives going back and forth between government agencies would end under his Presidency.

"Of course a lot of the people who work for the FDA end up going to work for Big Pharma after, so we are going to end the revolving door. We are going to put a grace period in there: five to ten years, whatever would be appropriate so that you can't just keep bouncing back and forth.

DeSantis said he would reign in bureaucrats like Anthony Fauci who made royalty money on the products he was pushing from the White House Press Room.

"We are also going to reign in this idea that the bureaucrats can get all this royalty money. I think that's been very harmful in terms of the incentives it has created," said DeSantis. "We need to have incentives that are going to promote transparency and patient safety."

DeSantis is the only executive in America to impanel a statewide grand jury to investigate COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers for possible wrongdoing. That grand jury is expected to return in the next few months.

Watch the full interview here.