In a letter issued Tuesday, January 20, 2026, the nonprofit law firm asked HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to initiate the formal rulemaking process required to amend the Vaccine Injury Table to reflect the recent changes made to the CDC's childhood vaccine schedule. The move would allow victims of vaccine injuries and their families to seek substantial compensation in federal court.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- We The Patriots USA, a nationwide nonprofit law firm, has sent a certified letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., requesting that he initiate rulemaking to amend the Vaccine Injury Table to align with recent changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s childhood vaccine schedule. Earlier this month, the CDC reduced the number of vaccinations recommended for routine use in children from 17 to 11, adopting a childhood vaccination schedule that more closely resembles those used in other developed nations like Denmark and Germany. But the new CDC recommendations did not change anything in practice, and did not remove liability protection for vaccine manufactures provided by the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NVCIA). That law required plaintiffs to seek compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), "a no-fault alternative to the traditional tort system," as explained by the Health Resources & Services Administration.
According to We The Patriots USA Vice-President and Co-Founder Brian Festa, Esq., victims of vaccine injuries cannot seek compensation in regular federal court until the vaccines alleged to have caused the injuries are removed from the Vaccine Injury Table. "Unless these childhood vaccines are removed from the table, victims have no recourse but to seek compensation through the VICP, which is a notoriously difficult process that yields much lower damages awards than would be available through conventional tort litigation," Festa said. "That is why we've asked Secretary Kennedy to initiate the rulemaking process to amend the Vaccine Injury Table, so that victims can finally have a path to meaningful relief in court."
In its letter to Kennedy dated January 20, 2026, We The Patriots USA drew a comparison between vaccine injury litigation awards and opioid litigation settlements:
"As you know, the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act provides vaccine manufacturers with liability protection for all vaccines currently included on the Vaccine Injury Table. This liability protection prevents the vast majority of parents from seeking meaningful recovery for their children's vaccine injuries in federal court, leaving them to instead seek compensation under the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). Recovery under the VICP is limited and often difficult to obtain. According to the most recent National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Data Report dated December 1, 2025, between 2006 and 2023, 'for every 1 million doses of vaccine that were distributed, approximately 1 individual was compensated.' Since the start of the program in 1988, approximately $5.5 billion has been paid out for vaccine injuries. For a frame of reference – although it admittedly is not the best 1:1 comparison – reports estimate that nearly $60 billion is due to be paid out to victims of the opioid crisis stemming from settlements that were reached beginning in 2021."
The full text of We The Patriots USA's letter to Secretary Kennedy is available here.
We The Patriots USA is a charitable nonprofit organization that provides free legal services and education to individuals in all 50 states, whose mission includes advocacy for health freedom causes. Two other nonprofits with similar missions signed on to the letter to Secretary Kennedy, Health Freedom Defense Fund and Stand for Health Freedom. We The Patriots USA relies solely on charitable donations from its supporters to fuel its mission, which can be made at www.wethepatriotsusa.org/donate.
Media Contact
Brian Festa, Esq., We The Patriots USA, Inc., 1 8608636928, [email protected], https://wethepatriotsusa.org/
SOURCE We The Patriots USA, Inc.
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