Florida Senate committee approves bill that allows people injured by vaccines to sue drug manufacturers over advertisements

With supporters pointing to diminished "public trust" in vaccines and the health-care system, a Senate committee Tuesday approved a bill that would allow people injured by vaccines to sue drug manufacturers that advertise the products.

The Senate Regulated Industries Committee voted 5-3 to approve the bill (SB 408), which drew opposition from business and health-care groups.

Bill sponsor Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, said childhood vaccination rates have decreased and that she thinks it is a "trust issue." She pointed to difficulty in holding vaccine manufacturers accountable for problems.

"We must build back public trust when it comes to this," Grall said.

But opponents said federal laws prevent the state from addressing such issues and that Grall's proposal could violate the First Amendment. A federal law passed in the 1980s, for example, provides a system for people to be compensated if they are injured by vaccines — and is designed to help keep such disputes out of court.

William Large, president of the business-backed Florida Justice Reform Institute, described the federal law as creating a "no-fault" system that is financed through excise taxes on vaccines.

George Feijoo, a lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, argued that Grall's bill would increase costs, describing it as a "hidden tort tax on health care."

Grall, who said Texas has passed a similar measure, said the bill doesn't focus on vaccine design defects — an issue that would be trumped, or "preempted," by federal law. She said it is focused on "advertising conduct that is leading people to have this distrust in the industry and leading to harmful results and causing injuries there is not compensation for."

The bill would allow lawsuits in state courts and make manufacturers liable "if the manufacturer advertises a vaccine in this state and the advertised vaccine causes harm or injury to an individual."

Among organizations opposing the bill were the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Associated Industries of Florida, the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association and the Florida Association of Family Physicians.

Grall disputed that the bill would violate First Amendment rights.

"The pharmaceutical companies can educate doctors," Grall said. "They can put materials within the doctors' offices. They can help consumers understand what the vaccine is and what might happen if they get the vaccine."

Florida's push to eliminate school vaccine requirements sparks fierce opposition from pediatricians

The bill comes amid widespread debate about vaccines, including Florida health officials looking to do away with certain vaccination mandates for schoolchildren. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, has fueled controversy about vaccinations — with many physicians and health groups pushing back by touting the importance of vaccines in preventing the spread of diseases.

Senate Regulated Industries Chairwoman Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island, said Tuesday that people hear ads from pharmaceutical companies "claiming their vaccines are safe and incentivizing people to use them and they (people) have no redress, and they know that. And it creates an atmosphere of distrust."

Bradley said the bill "is not pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine."

"We can put our head in the sand, but public trust in our health system is weak right now," she said.