What You Need to Know About the Act of 1986

Analysis by Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

• The documentary, “1986: The Act,” is a historical description of how the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 came into being. The Act shields manufacturers from liability and requires those injured by vaccines to sue the U.S. government for compensation instead

• The film, produced by Dr. Andrew Wakefield, is included in the NVIC’s international public conference on vaccination, which will be held online October 16 through 18, 2020

• “1986: The Act” illustrates the dangers of removing a product — vaccines — from the constraints of the free market, as it removes incentives for safety

• The vaccine industry has created a perfect business model for profitability. They need not conduct proper safety studies, which are both costly and time consuming, and have no liability for harms done by their products

• In the case of the dangerous whole-cell pertussis vaccine — the injuries from which played a role in getting liability shielding for the entire industry from the government in 1986 — a safer pertussis vaccine had been patented in 1937, yet was not implemented because it would cost pennies more per dose to manufacture

In this interview, Dr. Andrew Wakefield discusses the documentary1 "1986: The Act," which he produced. He also co-wrote and directed Del Bigtree's film "Vaxxed," which discloses the conspiracy within the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to withhold information about vaccine harms.

Wakefield is now doing a tour promoting "1986: The Act," which is the best documentary I've ever seen on this topic. It's also one of two full-feature films included in the ticket price for the National Vaccine Information Center's international public conference on vaccination,2 which will be held online October 16 through 18, 2020.

If you haven't signed up for that event yet, I encourage you to do that now. If you want to watch the film now, it's available online at 1986theact.com. A trailer is provided at the end of this article.

The Wakefield Controversy

Wakefield, as many of you know, has been a controversial character within the vaccine field. He's been vilified like few others, to the point of losing his medical license — all because he, together with 12 other doctors, published a case paper suggesting there may be a possible association between measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and development of autism in some children. In the interview, Wakefield gives his side of the story:

The Power of Film

Another film made by Wakefield is "Who Killed Alex Spourdalakis?" It's the tragic story of a child destroyed by the medical system. After being prescribed 28 psychotropic medications and being chained to his bed, the boy was ultimately killed by his mother when she took his life to spare him further pain. The film turned out to be so powerful, after the state prosecutor in Illinois saw the film, he decided to release her from prison.

1986: The Act

"1986: The Act," is a historical description of how the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 came into being, and how it radically changed the vaccine landscape forever. It's meticulously documented and, like a detective story, takes the viewer through the many twists and turns that brought us to where we are today. As explained by Wakefield, it's a complex story of legislation, litigation and medical science.

The film follows a husband and wife as they're expecting their first baby, late in life, and takes the viewer on the journey they go through as they begin their investigation of vaccines.

1976 Swine Flu Pandemic Paved Way for Liability Protection

In the interview, Wakefield reviews how the 1976 swine flu pandemic helped pave the way for the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 and the implementation of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP).3 In many respects, the 1976 swine flu pandemic is the pandemic most closely resembling that of COVID-19, in that it stirred up tremendous fear, which led to the rushed creation of a vaccine.

Americans were strongly encouraged (but not forced) to get the vaccine. Many died or were seriously injured by that vaccine, resulting in injury awards totaling about $3 billion. The 1976 flu vaccine fiasco was crucial in that it permanently altered the perception of vaccine risks for politicians and drug companies alike. As explained by Wakefield:

Children's Lives Sacrificed for Penny Profits

"1986: The Act" discloses — through discovery documents from Mike Hugo, a plaintiff's lawyer in vaccine court — that the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, and the liability shield it provides to vaccine manufacturers, is based on a grand lie.

The pertussis vaccine had not been made as safe as it could. In fact, the vaccine manufacturer had a patent for a safer vaccine all the way back in 1937, but it was going to cost them a fraction of a dime more to manufacture that vaccine. So, they kept distributing the more dangerous whole-cell pertussis vaccine. Quite literally, children's lives were sacrificed for what amounts to pennies.

The Act Provides Little Protection or Benefit

As explained by Wakefield, in the years since its enactment in 1986, the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act has been so perverted and corrupted that, today, it provides little to no protection or benefit for those injured by liability-free vaccines.

First of all, the very existence of the compensation program has been suppressed. Few people even know it exists, so when they or a family member is injured, they don't realize they have the right to seek compensation.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is supposed to inform the public about the program, yet they refuse to fulfill the mandate of Congress and notify people of the existence of this program. "They keep it quiet because they know if they tell people that vaccines can actually do harm, then people would resist vaccination," Wakefield says.

Adverse Event Reporting System Misses 99% of Adverse Events

Secondly, vaccine safety informing, recording, reporting and research provisions were secured in the Act by parents of vaccine injured children but, after the Act was passed, most of those provisions were either substantially weakened by Congress through amendments to the law or HHS used rule making authority to get the safety provisions.

A centralized Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) was created in Act that mandated doctors and other vaccine provides report vaccine-related hospitalizations, injuries and deaths to the federal government. Sadly, because Congress did not put any sanctions for doctors and other vaccine providers if they failed to report vaccine reactions to VAERS, a shocking less than 1% of all vaccine reactions that happen are ever reported to the government. As noted by Wakefield:

When the CDC learned of those results, rather than take action to do the necessary research to find out how many children were being harmed so vaccine reactions could be prevented, they basically ignored the Harvard Pilgrim report and didn't openly disclose the initial results.

HHS Removed Common Vaccine Injuries From Injury Table

Thirdly, the HHS has also gutted the vaccine injury table, which lists the types of injuries recognized as being "common" vaccine injuries. If an injury is listed on the table, the individual will automatically receive compensation without having to go through the full legal process.

Autism Acknowledged, Then Revoked

As noted by Wakefield, the vaccine court made a serious "mistake" when they compensated Hannah Poling for a novel injury. By doing so, they created a precedent, and they had no idea just how common her condition was. When it dawned on them, something had to be done to downplay the real ramifications of the case.

What Awaits Us With the COVID-19 Vaccine?

In closing, we discuss the potential ramifications of a mass vaccination program for COVID-19. There are already disconcerting signs that these novel, fast-tracked mRNA vaccines are a tragedy in the making, a 'la the 1976 swine flu vaccination campaign.

AstraZeneca recently halted their global vaccine trials after one of its British participants developed transverse myelitis.

Importantly, transverse myelitis is a recognized compensable table injury for a vaccine, so there's really no way to deny a potential vaccine link — but they did, by dismissing it with a report that the reaction was "either considered unlikely to be associated with the vaccine or there was insufficient evidence to say for certain that the illnesses were or were not related to the vaccine."4

Note that the commentary mentions "illnesses" in the plural — as it turns out there was a similar neurological event with one of the company's clinical trial participants in July. That event was attributed to a pre-existing, but "previously undiagnosed" case of multiple sclerosis. This — in a clinical trial participant that supposedly was carefully screened and judged healthy before being accepted into the trials. As to the case of transverse myelitis, Wakefield noted:

Where to Watch '1986: The Act'

Again, "1986: The Act" is complementary if you sign up for the NVIC's international public conference on vaccination.5 For just $80, you get access to two films and nearly 40 expert speakers. Due to COVID-19 concerns and travel bans, the event will be held entirely online, October 16 through 18, 2020. If you don't want to wait, you can also access the film on 1986theact.com.