NEW ORLEANS (Legal Newsline) – A Louisiana school district and a hospital are fighting a lawsuit brought by a mother upset her son was allowed to be vaccinated against COVID-19 without her permission.
Ochsner Medical Center Kenner on Feb. 28 filed a motion to dismiss that the Jefferson Parish School Board joined. The two say Jennifer Ravain’s lawsuit is defeated by the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, which grants immunity to those who administer and sponsor vaccine programs.
The PREP Act took effect on Dec. 30, 2005.
“Congress purposefully created a legal framework by which individuals, companies and organizations (public and private) are encouraged to participate in efforts to protect public health when an emergency is underway,” the motion says.
“This encouragement takes the form of immunity from both suit and liability under all but the most extreme circumstances.”
That immunity is triggered by the declaration of a public health emergency by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. That happened on March 17, 2020, the lawsuit says.
According to the lawsuit, on Oct. 20, 2021, an announcement came over the public address at East Jefferson High School stating that students were free to go to the Ochsner mobile vaccine unit if they were interested in getting the COVID-19 vaccination.
Ravain’s son asked the nurses when he would be able to schedule getting the shot, as he wanted to talk to his mother first, and they informed that it would be done right then, the suit says.
The minor proceeded to get the vaccination. Ravain claims that Defendants did not adhere to the law regarding obtaining consent from a parent of a minor before administrating shots.
The defendants removed the case to New Orleans federal court in December. It was originally filed in Jefferson Parish District Court.
The only exception to the immunity granted under the PREP Act, the defendants say, is serious physical injury or death, and any claim regarding them needs to be brought in District of Columbia federal court.
“The damages consist exclusively of emotional distress,” the motion says. “There is no hint of any physical injury whatsoever, much less serious bodily injury or death.”
Ocschner is represented by Nadia de la Houssaye of Jones Walker in Lafayette.