Goins v. St. Elizabeth Medical Center

This appeal concerns claims of negligent medical care, brought by a patient against a physician and the hospital that treated her. The defendants moved to dismiss on the theory that they were immune from liability under the PREP Act. The district court denied the motion, concluding that the physician was not a “covered person” eligible to invoke the PREP Act because the patient’s complaint did not allege that he “administered or used” the vaccine—the only covered countermeasure identified by the defendants—as is required to obtain immunity.

On appeal, Public Citizen filed an amicus brief explaining that the district court properly held that only those who actually administered or used covered countermeasures are provided immunity by the PREP Act.