The State of Kansas is suing the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer alleging that the company “concealed” safety data and “misled” Kansas residents about the safety and efficacy of its COVID-19 shot. The lawsuit, filed by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, alleges Pfizer committed consumer protection violations by marketing the shot as “safe and effective” even though it “knew” the product was connected to “deaths,” “serious adverse events,” “waning effectiveness,” and an “inability to prevent transmission.”
“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 lawsuit states.
Through documents made public by the lawsuit and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), data from Pfizer’s own adverse event database showed 1,223 fatalities and 158,893 adverse events within the first three months of the shot being available to the public.
Yet, the lawsuit states that 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 its shot. The suit also shows Pfizer Chairman and CEO Dr. Albert Bourla saying in 2023 that the company “constantly review[s] and analyze[s] the data” and “we’ve seen not a single [safety issue] although we have distributed billions of doses.”
“Pfizer’s representations that its COVID-19 vaccine did not have any safety concerns was inconsistent with the adverse events data it possessed,” alleges the lawsuit. “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…”
Kansas asserts that Pfizer’s “misrepresentations” violate the state’s Consumer Protection Act, as well as the “consent judgments” made by many Kansas residents whether they decided to “receive or forgo” Pfizer’s shot. Attorney General Kobach is seeking $20,000 in damages for each violation.
Kobach also reports in the lawsuit that Pfizer made “approximately $75 billion” in revenue from its COVID shot sales over a two-year period. Additionally, Kobach notes that Dr. Bourla personally enriched himself with $5.6 million from Pfizer stock sales on November 9, 2020, which was the same day stock prices soared when the company announced its “experimental vaccine” was “90 percent effective.”
“Pfizer had billions of incentives to do whatever it took to ensure that its COVID-19 vaccine received the necessary government approval,” reads the lawsuit.
According to Kobach, Pfizer worked differently than other COVID shot manufacturers. Kobach noted that Pfizer declined to take part in Operation Warp Speed allowing itself to operate “at arm’s length” from the government and avoid “taxpayer protection clauses” found in most government contracts. The suit shows that Dr. Bourla, a veterinarian by training, is on record stating that “Pfizer declined government funding in order to ‘liberate’ Pfizer’s scientists from government oversight of its vaccine development.”
Kobach suggests this move insulated Pfizer from scrutiny by allowing the company to own the intellectual property rights of virtually all documents related to the manufacture and testing of its COVID shot. He noted Pfizer’s contract with the government “allowed the company to selectively publish results” that could not be “independently evaluated.” In addition, due to Pfizer’s document control, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration claims that it would take “55 years—until 2076—to produce” all of Pfizer’s COVID-19 documents through FOIA.
“Pfizer took advantage of Kansans’ fear of COVID-19,” concluded Korbach. “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 shot had been administered in the United States.
Here is Kansas’ complete list of allegations against Pfizer:
1. Pfizer misled the public that it had a “safe and effective” COVID-19 vaccine.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Pfizer said its COVID-19 vaccine would prevent transmission of COVID-19 even though it knew it never studied the effect of its vaccine on transmission of COVID-19.
5. To keep the public from learning the truth, Pfizer worked to censor speech on social media that questioned Pfizer’s claims about its COVID-19 vaccine.
6. Pfizer’s misrepresentations of a “safe and effective” vaccine resulted in record company revenue of approximately $75 billion from COVID-19 vaccine sales in just two years.
7. Pfizer’s actions and statements relating to its COVID-19 vaccine violated previous consent judgments with the State of Kansas.
8. Pfizer’s actions and statements relating to its COVID-19 vaccine violated the Kansas Consumer Protection Act, K.S.A. 50-623 et seq., regardless of whether any individual consumer ultimately received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
9. 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.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “Concealing COVID-19 shot safety data and falsely representing its safety and efficacy is reprehensible. Many have been killed or harmed by these experimental and unsafe shots making these fraudulent schemes a contender for the crime of the century. Pharmaceutical companies with any part in this need to be held accountable. More states should step up like Kansas.”
