Iowa Republicans Submit Bill to Strip Vaccine Manufacturers of Legal Immunity

Iowa Republicans have introduced House File 712, a bold challenge to the legal fortress shielding vaccine manufacturers from liability. Their mission? To hold Big Pharma accountable for the widespread harm they say has been ignored for too long.

Submitted on Wednesday, this legislation will ban vaccines from being distributed or administered in Iowa unless manufacturers waive their get-out-of-jail-free card, including protections from the federal National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. And it’s about time.

For decades, Big Pharma has hidden behind this federal law, which created the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP)—a supposed safety net for victims of vaccine injuries. But let’s call it what it is: a broken system that leaves families shattered, financially ruined, and begging for scraps while vaccine makers rake in billions.

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Sonya Swan, a fierce advocate for the bill, laid it bare during the hearing. Reading a letter from an Iowa family whose child suffered a vaccine injury, she said, “Vaccine adverse events are not rare and far too common, and no other industry enjoys the complete liability protection awarded to vaccine manufacturers.” She’s right—when a child’s life is derailed by a vaccine gone wrong, families are abandoned, left to foot the bill for a lifetime of care with little to no help.

The numbers back her up. The CDC’s own data shows that from 2006 to 2022, over 5 billion doses of covered vaccines were distributed in the U.S., with 12,593 injury petitions filed under the VICP. Of those, 9,124 received compensation—roughly one payout per million doses. That might sound “rare” to bureaucrats, but tell that to the 9,124 families who won their cases, or the thousands more who didn’t because the system is a labyrinth designed to exhaust and defeat them. Years of delays, denials, and red tape—that’s the reality of the VICP. Meanwhile, vaccine makers sleep easy, untouchable under their federal shield.

Opponents—like medical student Jack Ohringer—cry that this bill will “open the floodgates” for lawsuits, driving up vaccine costs or pushing manufacturers out of Iowa. He points to the VICP’s billions in payouts as proof it’s “doing something.” Sure, it’s doing something: it’s letting Pharma off the hook while tossing crumbs to victims.

The 1986 law was sold as a way to keep vaccines flowing without bankrupting manufacturers, but it’s morphed into a license to cut corners, dodge accountability, and leave injured kids in the dust.

Tom Cope from the Iowa Society of Anesthesiologists chimed in, whining that this could limit Iowans’ “choice” in healthcare. Choice? What choice do families have when a vaccine injury upends their lives and the manufacturer walks away scot-free?

Then there’s Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames, clutching her pearls about “the greatest medical advancement in history” and citing a single measles death in Texas this year—the first in a decade—as proof we need unchecked vaccine access. She’s got it backward. Vaccines can save lives—but when they go wrong, the lack of accountability is what’s killing trust and, yes, even kids.

If manufacturers faced real consequences, they’d be forced to make safer products instead of hiding behind a federal curtain.

Rep. Charley Thomson, R-Charles City, gets it. Supporting the bill’s advance, he said, “While vaccines are a tremendous medical advance, there has to be some control for toxic products that get into the stream of commerce.” Exactly. The VICP isn’t working—it’s a federal failure. If Iowa can step up with a state-level fix, why shouldn’t it? Critics say this belongs at the federal level, but why wait for Washington to stop coddling Big Pharma? Iowa’s got the guts to act now.

This isn’t about banning vaccines—it’s about ending the free ride for manufacturers who’ve profited off pain. House File 712 isn’t the only sign of Iowa’s backbone, either. A Senate bill this week took aim at gene-based vaccines, threatening fines for providers who use them.

Together, these moves signal a reckoning. Vaccine makers have had their immunity long enough—let’s see how they fare when they’re finally forced to answer for the harm they’ve caused. Iowa’s leading the charge, and it’s a fight worth cheering for.