Washington, DC, Aug. 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Children’s Health Defense (CHD) along with 18 students filed a lawsuit in federal court yesterday against Rutgers University, its Board of Governors, Rutgers president Jonathan Holloway and others over the university’s decision to mandate COVID vaccines for students attending school in the fall.
According to the complaint, the Rutgers vaccine requirement “is an affront to human dignity and personal freedom because it violates our basic right to control our bodies. In a free society, all people have the right to decide their own medical treatment – especially, to decide what to inject into their bodies. And every person has the right to make that decision voluntarily, free from coercion by anyone, and to be fully informed of the benefits and especially the risks of that decision.”
Among the seven claims against Rutgers by the students is that the policy is a violation of the right to informed consent and the right to refuse unwanted medical treatments. It also is a breach of contract because of an assurance from the university in January, 2021 that COVID vaccines would not be required in order to attend school. Just two months later, Rutgers flip-flopped and issued new requirements for taking the shot prior to attending classes.
The complaint points out that Rutgers is working with all three manufacturers— Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson—to study and develop their vaccines in on-going clinical trials and will benefit financially if more people are required to take these experimental shots.
The Rutgers requirement constitutes a denial of equal protection as administration, faculty and staff are not required to receive the COVID shot and conflicts with federal and state law as neither has enacted legislation requiring COVID vaccines for citizens.
“This mandate undermines our Constitution and Bill of Rights by denying students the freedom to make their own medical decisions,” said CHD President and General Counsel Mary Holland. “No one should be forced or coerced into accepting any medical procedure against their wishes. When the low risk to young adults from COVID and the known and unknown risks from the vaccines are taken into account, Rutgers’ actions recklessly endanger its students.”
As confirmed by the CDC, young people are at minimal risk of long-term effects or death from COVID and have a 99.985% survival rate if infected with the virus. However, the most recent COVID vaccination injury update from the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS), one of the tracking systems of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, shows that between mid-December, 2020 and August 6, 2021, 559,040 adverse events have been reported including 12,791 deaths, many in young people ages 12 to 25. In comparison, after approximately 50 total deaths following swine flu vaccination in 1976, that vaccine campaign was immediately aborted.
“The Rutgers mandate stems from the financial relationship the university has with the vaccine makers which is clearly a conflict of interest,” said New Jersey attorney Julio Gomez who represents the students. “Unjustified fear and insatiable greed drive the vaccine industry, especially now, during this pandemic. This has created an opportunity for manufacturers to bring to market expensive, novel and patentable drugs, vaccines, biologics, treatments, and medical devices that will reap huge profits.”
According to Rutgers student and plaintiff in the lawsuit Peter Cordi, “It is incredibly unnerving that my own school would play Russian Roulette with the lives of the students it claims to protect, with greed and ties to big pharma being prioritized over our safety and free will.”
In addition to Holland and Gomez, plaintiffs are represented by New Jersey attorney Susan Judge of Scotch Plains, with the support of attorney Ray Flores, Special Counsel to CHD.
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Children's Health Defense is devoted to the health of people and our planet. Our mission is to end the childhood health epidemics by working aggressively to eliminate harmful exposures, hold those responsible accountable, and establish safeguards to prevent future harm.
