Kansas on Monday filed a lawsuit against Pfizer, alleging the company violated consumer protection laws by marketing its COVID-19 vaccine as “safe” while knowing it was linked to “serious adverse events.”
Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach said the company violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act by making false and deceptive claims about its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. The lawsuit contends that these claims led consumers to make uninformed decisions about vaccination.
The 179-page lawsuit, filed in the District Court of Thomas County, includes several key allegations:
- Misleading Efficacy Claims: Pfizer is accused of misleading the public by claiming its COVID-19 vaccine was “safe and effective” based on only two months of clinical trial data and using relative risk reduction to inflate the shot’s efficacy.
- Concealing Adverse Events: The lawsuit claims Pfizer knew the vaccine caused serious adverse events, including myocarditis and pericarditis, failed pregnancies, and deaths, yet concealed this critical safety information from the public.
- Pregnancy Safety Concerns: Pfizer marketed its vaccine as “safe for pregnant women.” However, in February 2021, Pfizer had reports for 458 pregnant women who received the vaccine, with more than half reporting adverse events and over 10% experiencing miscarriages. Additionally, a study from October 2020 indicated potential links to infertility and stillbirths in animal trials.
- Heart Inflammation Denial: Pfizer allegedly denied any evidence of a connection between its vaccine and heart inflammation, despite acknowledgments of the link by the U.S. government, military, and other countries.
- Waning Effectiveness: The lawsuit asserts that Pfizer knew the vaccine’s effectiveness waned over time and did not protect against new variants, yet continued to promote vaccination without disclosing this information.
- Transmission Claims: Pfizer is accused of claiming its vaccine would prevent virus transmission without having studied this effect.
- Suppressing Dissent: Pfizer worked with social media companies to suppress speech that questioned its claims about the vaccine.
- Revenue from Misrepresentation: Pfizer’s actions led to record revenue of approximately $75 billion from COVID-19 vaccine sales in two years.
Attorney General Kobach is also accusing Pfizer of maintaining its own adverse events database separate from the government’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), which contained a variety of adverse event reports.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) filed a similar lawsuit against Pfizer in 2023, and more states are likely to follow suit.
“The representations made by Pfizer about its COVID-19 vaccine have been accurate and science-based,” Pfizer said in a statement, adding that the lawsuit is without merit.
