Congress enacted the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) in 2005 to partially shield manufacturers and healthcare workers from most lawsuits for medical countermeasures used during public health emergencies, and compensation for serious harms from such countermeasures is administered through the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP), which covers severe injuries or deaths and has a one-year statute of limitations.
January 01, 2005
high
legal
Describes the PREP Act's purpose and the role and limits of the CICP for emergency countermeasures.