No, Supreme Court hasn’t ruled COVID-19 vaccines cause ‘irreparable’ damage | Fact check

The claim: Supreme Court ruled COVID-19 vaccines cause 'irreparable' damage in win for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

An Oct. 14 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims to share breaking news about a U.S. Supreme Court case involving Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“#breaking Supreme Court ruling hardly anyone noticed that Robert F. Kennedy Jnr won the case against all the pharmaceutical lobbyists,” the post begins. “In the ruling, the supreme court confirms that damage caused by Covid mRNA gene therapies is irreparable.”

The post was shared more than 2,000 times in two weeks. Another version of the post was shared more than 1,000 times in two weeks.

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Our rating: False

The Supreme Court has made no such ruling. It hasn’t released any opinions during its current term, and none of its decisions since the pandemic match the post’s description.

Supreme Court has ruled on some COVID-19 issues, but not vaccine safety

An archive of the Supreme Court’s opinions available on its website shows that, as of Oct. 29, it hasn’t yet released any opinions during its current term, which began Oct. 7. It also includes all the court’s opinions from past terms dating back to before the pandemic, but none directly involve Kennedy or make any determination about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.

“The Supreme Court has not ruled that the COVID-19 vaccines cause irreparable damage,” Margaret Foster Riley, a law and public health sciences professor at the University of Virginia, told USA TODAY.

Riley said such a ruling wouldn’t be consistent with the court's role.

“The Supreme Court rules on applications of law – regulations, statutes and the Constitution,” she said. “It is not the fact finder. It may apply facts to the law, but it does not rule on them.”

The court has ruled on several issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, though, including decisions about vaccine mandates and the eviction moratorium implemented during the pandemic, as USA TODAY previously reported.

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In late May, the court released an opinion that refers to a separate case involving Kennedy and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat. In that case, a federal judge refused to order Warren to retract a letter she wrote criticizing a book she said promotes unproven treatments for COVID-19, The Associated Press reported. Kennedy wrote the book’s foreword.

Kennedy is mentioned in another opinion issued in June that rejected a challenge to government efforts to have social media companies remove posts it considered misinformation. That same month, the court rejected two vaccine-related cases brought by Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine nonprofit Kennedy founded.

In 2021, Kennedy told The Associated Press that a similar claim was “misinformation,” and while he was a part of more than 30 lawsuits about vaccine safety, none had appeared before the Supreme Court.

Kennedy is the son of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, who were both assassinated in the 1960s. He frequently criticized COVID-19 restrictions and spread other misinformation about the pandemic. In August, Kennedy suspended his third-party campaign for president and endorsed former President Donald Trump.

The COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Our fact-check sources:

• Margaret Foster Riley, Oct. 29, Email exchange with USA TODAY

• Supreme Court of the United States, accessed Oct. 29, Opinions of the Court

• USA TODAY, Aug. 26, 2021, Supreme Court blocks Biden's COVID-19 eviction moratorium in a blow to renters

• USA TODAY, Jan. 14, 2022, Supreme Court blocks COVID-19 vaccine-or-testing mandate for workplaces but lets medical rule stand

• The Associated Press, May 10, 2022, Judge won’t make Sen. Warren retract letter about COVID book

• The Associated Press, Sept. 20, 2021, Supreme Court hasn’t ruled on COVID-19 vaccines or ‘universal vaccination’

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, court didn’t say vaccines cause ‘irreparable’ damage | Fact check