Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/10pdf/09-152.pdf
Page Number: 26.0

4 

BRUESEWITZ v. WYETH LLC 

BREYER, J., concurring 

merce, 99th Cong., 2d Sess., 10 (Comm. Print 1986) (here-
inafter Childhood Immunizations).

But  these  gains  are  fragile;  “[t]he  causative  agents  for
these  preventable  childhood  illnesses  are  ever  present  in 
the  environment,  waiting  for  the  opportunity  to  attack 
the unprotected individual.”  Hearing on S. 827 before the
Senate  Committee  on  Labor  and  Human  Resources,  99th 
Cong., 2d Sess., pt. 2, pp. 20–21 (1985) (hereinafter Hear-
ings)  (testimony  of  the  American  Academy  of  Pediatrics);
see  California  Dept.  of  Public  Health,  Pertussis  Re- 
port  (Jan.  7,  2011),  www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/immunize/
Documents/PertussisReport2011–01–07.pdf 
2010, 
8,383 people in California caught whooping cough, and 10
infants  died).  Even  a  brief  period  when  vaccination  pro-
grams  are  disrupted  can  lead  to children’s  deaths.    Hear-
ings  20–21;  see  Gangarosa  et al.,  Impact  of  Anti-Vaccine
Movements  on  Pertussis  Control:  The  Untold  Story,  351
Lancet  356–361  (Jan.  31,  1998)  (when  vaccination  pro-
grams  are  disrupted,  the  number  of  cases  of  whooping 
cough skyrockets, increasing by orders of magnitude). 

(In 

In considering the NCVIA, Congress found that a sharp
increase in tort suits brought against whooping cough and 
other  vaccine  manufacturers  between  1980  and  1985  had 
“prompted  manufacturers  to  question  their  continued 
participation  in  the  vaccine  market.”    H. R.  Rep.,  at  4;
Childhood  Immunizations  85–86.    Indeed,  two  whooping 
cough  vaccine  manufacturers  withdrew  from  the  market,
and other vaccine manufacturers, “fac[ing] great difficulty 
in  obtaining  [product  liability]  insurance,”  told  Congress
that  they  were  considering  “a  similar  course  of  action.”
H. R.  Rep.,  at  4;  Childhood  Immunizations  68–70.    The 
Committee Report explains that, since there were only one
or  two  manufacturers  of  many  childhood  vaccines,  “[t]he 
loss  of  any  of  the  existing  manufacturers  of  childhood 
vaccines . . . could create a genuine public health hazard”;
it “would present the very real possibility of vaccine short-