Kansas sues Pfizer, saying it misled the public over COVID-19 vaccine

By Louis Goss

The state of Kansas has filed a lawsuit against Pfizer alleging the company misled the public about the safety and effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine including by working to censor critical information on social media.

In a lawsuit filed on Monday, the U.S. state alleges Pfizer made false statements about the safety of its COVID-19 vaccine and then worked to "conceal and suppress" information linking it to various adverse events including myocarditis and failed pregnancies.

"Pfizer made multiple misleading statements to deceive the public about its vaccine at a time when Americans needed the truth," Kobach said.

Pfizer was contacted by MarketWatch for comment. It told Reuters that its representations about the vaccine have been accurate and science-based and that the lawsuit had no merit.

In 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration added a warning to Pfizer's vaccine that it increased the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis in males aged 18-39. A study from November 2023 showed no link between the Pfizer vaccine and failed pregnancies.

The lawsuit says Pfizer failed to publicly disclose records of adverse events while also repeatedly stating that its vaccine was safe, even as its own data showed links between the COVID-19 vaccine and various health problems.

Pfizer then put pressure on social media platforms including what was then called Twitter to censor statements critical of its vaccine and of the wider response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the lawsuit, which was filed by the state of Kansas and its Republican attorney general Kris Kobach, says.

This saw Pfizer contribute towards multiple campaigns aimed at tackling what it said was misinformation. Pfizer board member Scott Gottlieb, the former FDA commissioner, also repeatedly contacted Twitter staff, calling on them to take action against certain COVID-19 related posts, including one by former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson before his account was banned the following day

Gottlieb had previously said in an interview that social media platforms should have an "obligation" to tackle misinformation surrounding COVID-19. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla had also called those who spread misinformation "criminals" who "literally cost millions of lives."

Pfizer, meanwhile, made record-breaking profits from selling its vaccine, which the lawsuit says would have been lower if the company had not "misrepresented, suppressed, concealed, and omitted material facts relating to its COVID-19 vaccine."

Shares in Pfizer (PFE), listed on the New York Stock Exchange, fell 2% on Monday having lost 31% of their value over the previous 12 months.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a similar lawsuit in November 2023, which accuses Pfizer of misrepresenting the efficacy of its widely used COVID-19 vaccine.

-Louis Goss

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06-18-24 0514ET

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