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When the System Abandons Accountability
The vaccine court is a federal program that exists not to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable, but to protect them from the consequences of their products. If your child is harmed by a vaccine, you cannot sue the manufacturer in a traditional court. Instead, you are forced into a government-run tribunal that quietly settles claims and shields corporations from public scrutiny. This system guarantees that vaccine companies never pay settlements out of their own pockets.
Instead, the burden falls on taxpayers. When a family wins a case, it is public money that covers the cost. The companies keep every cent of profit, face no public legal exposure, and are never truly pressured to fix their mistakes. Year after year, the same problems go unaddressed, and those with the most to lose—innocent families—carry all the risk and all the grief.
For a comprehensive look at how this system was built, who really pays, and the lives affected, see Wayne Rohde’s eye-opening book The Vaccine Court: The Dark Truth of America’s Vaccine Compensation Program.
Who Pays? Not the Companies—Taxpayers and Suffering Families
The facts are simple and devastating. Vaccine makers enjoy government-granted immunity. If a vaccine causes injury, the court may offer compensation, but the money never comes from the company. It is taken from a federal trust funded by taxes on every vaccine dose. This means that everyday Americans pay for corporate mistakes, while those corporations are shielded from responsibility and allowed to continue business as usual.
The result is a moral hazard of the highest order. Because pharmaceutical companies know they will not suffer real consequences, they have little financial reason to improve safety standards, invest in better research, or take responsibility when their products cause harm. The incentive is to minimize cost, maximize profit, and leave accountability in the hands of taxpayers.
The system teaches the wrong lesson. If those with the most power never face justice, why would they ever change? This is not just an economic injustice, but a spiritual one, undermining the principles of agency and stewardship so fundamental to the restored gospel.
LDS Principles Demand Real Accountability
Latter-day Saints are taught that accountability and stewardship are at the heart of God’s law. The Doctrine and Covenants teaches, “We believe that governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man; and that he holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them.” Families must be able to trust that those who make decisions that affect health and safety will be held responsible for the outcomes.
“Men are responsible for their own sins and for their own choices.” (Articles of Faith 1:2)
When government policy removes accountability and replaces it with secrecy, families lose the protection they deserve. The Book of Mormon repeatedly warns against systems that favor the powerful over the innocent. Justice, as taught by the Savior, is not just for the few—it must be available to all.
The Cost to Families and the Eternal Importance of Truth
Every year, families are left to fight an uphill battle against a faceless system. Many lose faith in both government and industry. Children and parents pay the price, sometimes for a lifetime, while corporations walk away untouched. This is not the stewardship the gospel commands. This is not the justice Jesus taught.
As Latter-day Saints, our responsibility is to stand up for those who cannot stand for themselves. We must call for vaccine court accountability, for reform, and for the restoration of real justice in our laws and our institutions. We are taught to “be anxiously engaged in a good cause,” and few causes are more urgent than defending the innocent and demanding honesty from those in power.
“And if ye judge the people, judge them according to the law of God.” (Mosiah 29:29)
A Call for Courage and Change
The time has come to demand that pharmaceutical companies are held accountable for the harm they cause. The burden should not fall on taxpayers or on families already suffering. The only way things will change is if people of faith, conviction, and courage speak up and insist on reform.
Do not be silent when you see injustice. Teach your children the principles of stewardship, agency, and truth. Support those who seek to bring the facts to light and protect the vulnerable.
