Ebola drug makers could be immune from liability under 2005 law

Vaccine manufacturers scrambling to get Ebola-related products to market could enjoy nearly unlimited immunity from lawsuits, thanks to language inserted into a defense spending bill under questionable circumstances days before Congress headed home for Christmas in 2005.

The language allows the secretary of Health and Human Services to, after declaring a public health emergency, provide blanket liability immunity to manufacturers of vaccines and other “countermeasures” as part of a response to a pandemic.