State Attorney General Claims Company Misled Public About Vaccine Safety and Efficacy
The State of Kansas has filed a lawsuit against pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, alleging that the company concealed critical safety data and misled Kansas residents about the safety and efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach claims that Pfizer committed consumer protection violations by marketing its vaccine as “safe and effective” despite being aware of serious adverse events associated with the product.
The lawsuit, initiated by AG Kobach, asserts that Pfizer knowingly concealed information regarding the vaccine’s connection to severe side effects, including myocarditis, pericarditis, failed pregnancies, and deaths. “Pfizer said its COVID-19 vaccine was safe even though it knew its COVID-19 vaccine was connected to serious adverse events… Pfizer concealed this critical safety information from the public,” the lawsuit states.
Alleging known safety issues
Documents revealed through the lawsuit and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) show that Pfizer’s adverse event database recorded 1,223 fatalities and 158,893 adverse events within the first three months of the vaccine’s public availability. Despite this, on April 1, 2021, Pfizer issued a press release claiming there were “no serious safety concerns through up to six months following [the] second dose” of the vaccine. In 2023, Pfizer Chairman and CEO Dr. Albert Bourla reiterated that the company had not identified any safety issues, even after distributing billions of doses.
“Kansas asserts that Pfizer’s representations that its COVID-19 vaccine did not have any safety concerns were inconsistent with the adverse events data it possessed,” the lawsuit alleges. “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.”
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver criticized Pfizer’s actions, calling them “reprehensible” and urging other states to follow Kansas’s lead in holding pharmaceutical companies accountable. “Many have been killed or harmed by these experimental and unsafe shots making these fraudulent schemes a contender for the crime of the century,” Staver stated.
Kansas’s lawsuit accuses Pfizer of violating the state’s Consumer Protection Act and deceiving residents into making misinformed decisions about receiving or forgoing the vaccine. AG Kobach seeks $20,000 in damages for each violation.
Substantial financial gains for Pfizer
The lawsuit also highlights Pfizer’s substantial financial gains from its COVID-19 vaccine sales, reporting approximately $75 billion in revenue over two years. Kobach points out that Dr. Bourla personally profited by $5.6 million from Pfizer stock sales on November 9, 2020, coinciding with the announcement that the experimental vaccine was “90 percent effective.”
Kobach’s complaint notes that Pfizer, unlike other COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers, chose not to participate in Operation Warp Speed, a government initiative to expedite vaccine development. This decision allowed Pfizer to operate independently and avoid government oversight clauses, thereby maintaining control over its vaccine’s development and related documentation. Consequently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has stated that it would take until 2076 to release all of Pfizer’s COVID-19 documents through FOIA.
“Pfizer took advantage of Kansans’ fear of COVID-19,” concluded Kobach. “Contrary to its representations, Pfizer has willfully concealed, suppressed, and omitted safety and efficacy data relating to its COVID-19 vaccine.”
As of April 2023, approximately 367 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine had been administered in the United States.
Summary of Allegations Against Pfizer:
- Misleading the public about the vaccine being “safe and effective.”
- Concealing knowledge of serious adverse events.
- Hiding data on the vaccine’s waning effectiveness and its inability to protect against COVID-19 variants.
- Falsely claiming the vaccine could prevent COVID-19 transmission.
- Working to censor social media discussions questioning the vaccine’s claims.
- Profiting $75 billion from vaccine sales over two years.
- Violating previous consent judgments with Kansas.
- Breaching the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.
- Misrepresenting the vaccine’s benefits while hiding safety risks.
