Ross Marchand, executive director of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA), said April 2 that proposed changes to the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) could benefit trial lawyers at the expense of patients who rely on vaccines.
“[Secretary] Kennedy’s latest ideological crusade would be great for trial lawyers, but terrible for millions of patients who depend on lifesaving vaccines,” Marchand said. “Kennedy and his trial-lawyer friends envision a system in which VICP is overwhelmed by cases, pushing more claims into civil court. If Kennedy and his hand-picked acolytes on ACCV get their way and expand the Vaccine Injury Table further, VICP will go bankrupt and enable a windfall for trial lawyers, while victims are left with mere pennies.”
Marchand made the statement in an op-ed published by the Washington Examiner and reposted by the Taxpayers Protection Alliance amid efforts by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to revise the VICP injury table. The op-ed cited recent moves to remove four of nine Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccinations members.
The issue has drawn attention due to financial disclosures showing connections between Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his legal associates, and ongoing litigation related to vaccine injuries. Financial disclosures filed with the Office of Government Ethics show that Kennedy has received approximately $2.5 million in referral fees from the law firm Wisner Baum since 2022, including $856,559 in 2024. Kennedy’s son is an attorney at Wisner Baum, and the referral agreement covers contingency cases, including Gardasil vaccine litigation. These payments coincide with Kennedy’s leadership role at HHS, which oversees the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, according to CNN.
Attorney Aaron Siri, who served as Kennedy’s personal lawyer and vetted HHS candidates, presented a 76-slide briefing to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in December. Siri & Glimstad represents hundreds of claimants in the VICP, where cases are adjudicated against the same HHS department Kennedy now leads, according to STAT News.
The Taxpayers Protection Alliance is a Washington D.C.-based nonpartisan fiscal policy group that advocates for government accountability and taxpayer protection. Marchand has served as executive director since 2018, focusing on healthcare policy and regulatory reform. Founded in 2011, its current president is David Williams.
