(Reuters) -Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is considering adding certain symptoms of autism to an official list of side effects that can be compensated through a government vaccine injury program, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing an adviser.

The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which shields vaccine manufacturers from most lawsuits and provides a fund to compensate individuals who experience serious reactions to covered vaccines, has paid out about $5 billion since its establishment in 1988, the report said.

Congress established the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program nearly four decades ago in response to a surge of lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers, which led some companies to exit the industry, the Bloomberg News report s

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