Federal Court VAERS argument 3-11-2025

US ex rel. Conrad v. Rochester Regional Health System

The case is being heard at the US District Court for the Western District of New York tomorrow. Warner Mendenhall and Jeremy Friedman will be arguing the case at 10am. It was great seeing those who could attend the hearing last year. We have filed an amended complaint which is facing a motion to dismiss.

The dispute revolves around whether Rochester Regional Health (RRH) and United Memorial Medical Center (UMMC) violated the False Claims Act by seeking payment for COVID-19 vaccines while knowingly failing to report thousands of adverse events and even deaths to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), as required under their Provider Agreement with the CDC.

Key issues include: (1) whether VAERS reporting obligations under the Provider Agreement extended beyond the vaccine administration sites to hospital admissions; (2) whether the failures to report adverse events were material to payment decisions; (3) whether RRH knowingly submitted false claims; (4) whether Relator's allegations satisfy the particularity requirements of Rule 9(b); and (5) whether Relator's termination was retaliatory.

The Court must determine if Relator's amended complaint sufficiently alleges an organization-wide pattern of suppressing VAERS reporting to maintain high Covid-19 vaccination rates and avoid “vaccine hesistancy,” or if, as Defendants argue, reporting obligations were limited to adverse events just at vaccination sites and within 15 minutes of administration. RRH holds the position that it does not have to report many injuries because another organization gave the shot. The Court must also decide whether Deb Conrad was terminated for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine or for her protected whistleblowing activities.

Her story is here. Please support her fight here.