Kansas sues Pfizer over false marketing strategy of COVID-19 vaccine

The state of Kansas has filed a lawsuit against pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Inc. for alleged consumer protection violations related to the company’s manufacturing of the COVID-19 vaccine, saying the company marketed the shot as “safe” even though it “knew” the vaccine was connected to “serious adverse events.”

“Pfizer misled the public that it had a ‘safe and effective’ COVID-19 vaccine,” the 69-page lawsuit filed Monday in the District Court of Thomas County alleges.

“Pfizer said its COVID-19 vaccine was safe even though it knew its COVID-19 vaccine was connected to serious adverse events, including myocarditis and pericarditis, failed pregnancies, and deaths. Pfizer concealed this critical safety information from the public,” the suit alleges.

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“Pfizer said its COVID-19 vaccine was effective even though it knew its COVID-19 vaccine waned over time and did not protect against COVID-19 variants. Pfizer concealed this critical effectiveness information from the public,” it says.

The lawsuit alleges that the company’s “actions and statements relating to its COVID-19 vaccine” violated the Kansas Consumer Protection Act, “regardless of whether any individual consumer ultimately received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.”

“Pfizer must be held accountable for falsely representing the benefits of its COVID-19 vaccine while concealing and suppressing the truth about its vaccine’s safety risks, waning effectiveness, and inability to prevent transmission,” the lawsuit says.

The suit, filed by Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach, alleges that through the company’s “misrepresentations” of the vaccine, it earned “record company revenue” of approximately $75 billion in just two years.

The lawsuit alleges that “millions of Kansans heard Pfizer’s misrepresentations about its COVID-19 vaccine.”

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“For example, Pfizer administered 3,355,518 Pfizer vaccine doses in Kansas as of February 7, 2024. This accounted for more than 60% of all vaccine doses in Kansas,” the lawsuit alleges, citing the state’s Department of Health Data.

The lawsuit alleges that Pfizer used various methods to “conceal critical data” related to the “safety and effectiveness” of the vaccine, including using confidentiality agreements, an extended timeline, and destroying the control group participating in its vaccine trial.

“We are proud to have developed the COVID-19 vaccine in record time in the midst of a global pandemic and saved countless lives. The representations made by Pfizer about its COVID-19 vaccine have been accurate and science-based. The Company believes that the state’s case has no merit and will respond to the suit in due course.”

“Pfizer is deeply committed to the well-being of the patients it serves and has no higher priority than ensuring the safety and effectiveness of its treatments and vaccines. Since its initial authorization by FDA in December 2020, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has been administered to more than 1.5 billion people, demonstrated a favorable safety profile in all age groups, and helped protect against severe COVID-19 outcomes, including hospitalization and death,” the company said.