Florida sues Pfizer over deceptive COVID-19 vaccine marketing

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has sued Pfizer and its Chief Executive Officer, Albert Bourla, accusing the pharmaceutical company of deceptively marketing its COVID-19 vaccine as safe and effective while allegedly withholding information about potential risks.

The 49-page lawsuit, filed Thursday, stated that Pfizer violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act through a wide-ranging campaign designed to boost demand for its vaccine and generate billions of dollars in revenue.

According to the complaint, Pfizer’s messaging centred on claims that the vaccine posed no significant safety risks and that mass vaccination was necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The lawsuit, however, argued that Pfizer had not tested whether its vaccine could prevent transmission of the virus. It cites a 2021 statement by Janine Small, Pfizer’s president of international developed markets, acknowledging that the vaccine had not been tested for its ability to stop transmission.

The complaint also stated that Pfizer had accumulated reports of adverse events before publicly making broad assurances about the vaccine’s safety.

It states that by February 28, 2021, Pfizer’s internal database contained 158,893 adverse-event reports and 1,223 reports of deaths following vaccination. The complaint also cites 458 reports involving pregnant women who received the vaccine, with 52 reported miscarriages.

The allegations concerning causation and the interpretation of the adverse-event reports are disputed and remain matters for the legal proceedings.

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Uthmeier said Pfizer made billions while allegedly failing to disclose information that consumers needed to assess the vaccine’s risks.

Pfizer, in response, rejected the allegations, describing them as baseless. The company said its statements about the COVID-19 vaccine were accurate and science-based and that it continues to stand behind the product’s safety and efficacy.

The lawsuit further argued that Pfizer’s public messaging included statements by Bourla portraying the vaccine as safe, while the company allegedly possessed data concerning adverse events including myocarditis and pericarditis among younger people.

Florida is seeking civil penalties of $10,000 for each alleged violation of the state’s consumer protection law, rising to $15,000 where elderly or disabled people are involved. The state is also seeking the recovery of some profits and a permanent injunction against future deceptive practices.

The case comes as Pfizer faces similar litigation in Kansas and Texas over alleged violations of state consumer protection laws.

The pharmaceutical company is expected to challenge the Florida case, potentially raising protections under the federal Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act, which provides broad liability protections for COVID-19 countermeasures.

The Florida lawsuit therefore sets up a significant legal dispute over the extent to which state consumer-protection laws can be used to challenge pharmaceutical companies’ marketing of federally protected COVID-19 products.