Update on Watts v. DOD, the only PREP Act case filed in DC in over 20 years.

Notice of Appeal Filed May 21, 2025

This is a very important lawsuit, and I have written about it previously:

Family of 24-Year-Old Who Died From COVID Vaccine Sues the DOD

To recap the case history, the case was funded by Children’s Health Defense.

Ray Flores

, the outside counsel for CHD filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the DOD and Lloyd Austin III in his official capacity as defense secretary, alleging that the DOD engaged in “willful misconduct” by continuing to exclusively allow distribution of the stockpiled version of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that had been authorized for emergency use even after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted full approval to a different vaccine, Comirnaty.

The complaint stated that the DOD engaged in ‘bait and switch’ fraud,” misleading the public that Comirnaty “approval” meant that the Emergency Use authorized injections were the same and thus “safe and effective”. The vast majority of the public, including health professionals today do not understand the distinction and do not know that the injections administered to the public are still only EUA. No approved versions have ever been made available. Also, very few people realize that both EUA and BLA versions are “countermeasures”. In November 2021, a federal judge rejected a DOD claim that the Pfizer-BioNTech EUA vaccine and the fully approved Comirnaty vaccine were “interchangeable.” As a result, George Watts Jr. was misled into taking the investigational vaccine which lead to his death from myocarditis.

The suit was dismissed by a federal judge on September 24, 2024, ruling that the federal government enjoys sovereign immunity, which protects it from lawsuits. […] According to the ruling, the PREP Act does not revoke the sovereign immunity of the government or federal agencies, but “explicitly preserves it.”

However, turns out that the judge improperly dismissed the case. Since it is the only PREP case ever filed, the DC local rules did not take into account that PREP requires automatic assignment to a 3 judge panel. The District Court never ruled on the substantive issues.

Watts v. DOD asks that one provision of the PREP Act be severed (Sovereign immunity). The PREP Act makes the Govt. a covered person and then cuts off all other causes of action, venues, and sets up an impossible and unconstitutional standard for willful misconduct. If the Govt. were truly sovereign, they would not need to be listed as a covered person. But since they are, PREP subjects them to liability.

Due to the Judge's lack of authority to dismiss, Plaintiff filed a Rule 60 Motion seeking relief due to a judicial mistake (a lone judge lacks jurisdiction under the PREP Act). Counsel asked the Court to vacate the Order to Dismiss, reopen the case, and immediately assign a three-judge panel as the PREP Act requires from the outset.

The PREP Act grants exclusive jurisdiction to three-judge panel considering motions to dismiss:

42 U.S. Code § 247d–6d (e)(5) provides: "Three-judge court Any action under subsection (d) shall be assigned initially to a panel of three judges. Such panel shall have jurisdiction over such action for purposes of considering motions to dismiss, motions for summary judgment, and matters related thereto."

Normally, a single judge may conduct all proceedings except trial and enter all orders permitted by the rules of civil procedure. That autonomy is precisely what the PREP Act prohibits.

On May 21, 2025, Plaintiff filed a Notice of Appeal. The DC Circuit Court is holding the case in abeyance pending resolution in the district court. I am happy this case is still ongoing and I pray for justice. I will provide more updates as I hear about future developments.

Art for today: Still Life with Pears, oil on panel, 12x12 in.