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ArticleBy Record desk

Petition seeks to add 300+ conditions to the federal vaccine-injury table

Why it matters

The Vaccine Injury Table defines what the government will compensate. A petition to expand it by hundreds of conditions, filed by petitioners aligned with the HHS Secretary, would reshape the entire no-fault compensation system if adopted.

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In March 2026, petitioners aligned with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed a petition asking the government to add more than 300 conditions to the Vaccine Injury Table under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, arguing the conditions are “associated with” vaccines.

The Table determines which injuries are presumed compensable through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). Autism itself remains excluded from the Table, and critics contend the petition relies on an “associated with” standard weaker than the causation showing the statute requires.

Separately, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Modernization Act of 2026 (H.R. 9672) was introduced to increase compensation caps, extend statutes of limitations, and add COVID-19 vaccines to the Table. Together the two efforts test how far the compensation system will move under the new administration.

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