Does Hospital’s Order for All Employees to get COVID-19 Vaccination with Emergency Authorized Product Violate Nuremberg Code? Employees vs. Houston Methodist

TrialSite Staff May 30, 2021

Does a healthcare employer have the right to force employees to be vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine that has yet to be formally approved and registered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)? The current COVID-19 vaccines have been authorized for emergency use, but not formally registered and this underpins a legal argument from 100 employees in a lawsuit in response to Houston Methodist hospital’s declaration that all 26,000 of their workers must be vaccinated against COVID-19 by June 7th. Those that don’t follow the orders may be terminated, according to the lawsuit. Specifically, 117 employees came together and filed suit in Montgomery County alleging that Houston Methodist is “illegally requiring its employees to be injected with an experimental vaccine as a condition of employment.” Because the vaccine products are not formally registered with the FDA (meaning approved), they are still deemed “experimental” and hence goes the argument that forcing them to get the jab actually violates the medical ethics code strictly precluding medical experimentation without voluntary consent as understood in the Nuremberg Code and in the Declaration of Helsinki.

While the hospital is a private employer, the legality of the claim is up for debate. Apparently, Houston Methodist CEO Dr. Marc Bloom had a letter sent to employees declaring that everyone needed to be vaccinated by June 7, noting that no compliance could lead to suspension and ultimately termination.
‘Human Guinea Pigs’

According to ABC News, Jared Woodfill serves as the plaintiffs’ counsel who suggested to that news network that the hospital was seeking to have all of the employees vaccinated to ultimately boost profits, that is tout to the market the benefit of a hospital where there’s ubiquitous vaccination. The attorney declared of the edict “It is a severe and blatant violation of the Nuremberg Code and the public policy of the state of Texas.” He noted that the “Defendants’ employees are being forced to serve as human ‘guinea pigs.’
Request Injunction

The plaintiffs’ attorney suggests that the violative nature of policy necessitates a temporary injunction, preventing the healthcare center from essentially firing employees who for whatever reason won’t or cannot accept the shots.
Defendant’s Point of View

Just recently, new federal guidance seems to favor the employer’s position here. A federal agency known as the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission offered new guidance recently that allows employers to require vaccination of employees re-entering the workplace but they must offer alternative arrangements for those who cannot adhere to the policy for health or religious reasons. See the guidance.

Call to Action: See the new federal guidance on this subject here.