The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is once again under fire for its lack of transparency when a legal team discovered that it withheld more than a million pages of documents related to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine despite a federal court order mandating their release.
The latest legal battle stems from a lawsuit filed by Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency (PHMPT) against the FDA in September 2021, demanding the release of all documents related to the agency’s approval of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Initially, the FDA argued it needed 75 years to fully process the request—a move that was widely criticized as an attempt to bury information rather than facilitate transparency.
U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman of the Northern District of Texas rejected the FDA’s request to produce only 500 pages per month, calling for a much faster release schedule. In a landmark ruling, Pittman ordered the FDA to produce 50,000 pages per month, requiring the agency to disclose at least 450,000 pages by August 2022.
In his ruling, Pittman emphasized that the COVID-19 pandemic had long passed, and there was no legitimate reason to conceal from the American people the information relied upon by the government in approving Pfizer’s vaccine.
As documents were released, researchers and legal experts began to notice missing data—specifically, crucial information regarding the emergency use authorization (EUA) of Pfizer’s vaccine. This omission led to suspicions that the FDA was deliberately withholding documents from the public.
Attorney Aaron Siri, who has been leading the legal effort to force disclosure, sounded the alarm:
“The FDA has been hiding a million pages from the Court, the plaintiff, and the public. Only those concerned about the truth seek to conceal evidence,” Siri said.
“The FDA here is clearly concerned about the truth and lacks confidence in the review that it conducted to license Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine because it is doing everything possible to prevent independent scientists from conducting an independent review,” he added.
After it was revealed that the FDA had failed to disclose over a million pages, PHMPT filed a motion for summary judgment, demanding the missing documents. In December 2024, Judge Pittman granted PHMPT’s motion and ordered the FDA to turn everything over, including documents related to the EUA file, by June 30, 2025.
The court rejected the FDA’s argument that EUA records were separate from the Biologics License Application (BLA) documents, ruling that the EUA files were incorporated into Pfizer’s BLA and, therefore, subject to disclosure. The judge’s decision made it clear that the FDA could not cherry-pick which documents to release and which to suppress.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is long past, and so has any legitimate reason for concealing from the American people the information relied upon by the government in approving the Pfizer Vaccine,” the court said.
What Is the FDA Trying to Hide?
The revelation that the FDA attempted to suppress over a million pages of documents raises serious concerns about what information might be buried within those pages. Previous releases of Pfizer’s clinical trial documents have already exposed alarming data, including:
- Reports of thousands of adverse events and over 1,200 deaths in the first 90 days of vaccine rollout.
- Pfizer’s own acknowledgment that the vaccine’s long-term safety profile was unknown at the time of approval.
- Data showing significant waning immunity despite public health officials initially claiming otherwise.
If this information was included in documents that the FDA had already released, what might be hidden in the one million pages they fought to withhold?
The FDA’s refusal to comply with court orders, coupled with its history of downplaying safety concerns, has fueled growing skepticism about the agency’s role in regulating pharmaceuticals. The agency is already under scrutiny for its coordinated efforts with Big Tech to suppress vaccine-related discourse during the pandemic—a fact brought to light in the Missouri v. Biden case, where evidence showed that the government pressured social media companies to censor dissenting views.
“The FDA has spent far too long thinking it can do whatever it wants without accountability,” Siri said, adding that the FDA may be trying to extend its deadline and prolong litigation.
“I think they’re hoping that we will just go away. What the FDA doesn’t know is that we’re never going away. We won’t stop fighting for freedom and rights, ever.”
If the FDA fails to comply, the court could impose sanctions or take further legal action. Meanwhile, public pressure is increasing, with growing calls for congressional investigations into the FDA’s handling of vaccine data and regulatory failures.
