Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a lawsuit against Pfizer on Monday, alleging the pharmaceutical giant intentionally misled consumers about the safety and efficacy of its Covid shot. The Republican official further contended Pfizer colluded with Big Tech companies to censor speech critical of the jabs.
“You do not deceive consumers, and you especially must not deceive consumers when consumers are making an urgent, frantic decision, believing that their life might be on the line,” Kobach said during a Monday press conference.
Filed in the District Court of Thomas County, Kansas, the 69-page lawsuit alleges that Pfizer claimed its Covid shot “was safe even though it knew its COVID-19 vaccine was connected to serious adverse events, including myocarditis and pericarditis, failed pregnancies, and deaths,” and worked to “conceal” such information from the public. The suit argues the pharma company committed similar actions regarding the jab’s long-term efficacy and ability to combat future variants.
“Pfizer’s actions and statements relating to its COVID-19 vaccine violated previous consent judgments with the State of Kansas” and the Kansas Consumer Protection Act, “regardless of whether any individual consumer ultimately received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine,” the lawsuit reads. “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.”
Pfizer claimed its shot was “95% effective against COVID-19 beginning 28 days after the first dose” when debuting the product in late 2020. As my colleague Jordan Boyd previously explained, the pharma giant “used this statistic, based on a final efficacy analysis, to bully Americans into getting the shots in the name of protecting their family and friends from the virus.”
The Monday lawsuit further argues that Pfizer “worked to censor speech on social media that questioned” its claims regarding its Covid jab, citing purported actions undertaken by company officials to pressure Big Tech to censor posts it didn’t like. The suit specifically highlights reported communications between then-Twitter (now X) and Scott Gottlieb, a Pfizer board member and former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, who reportedly contacted the social media platform on Aug. 24, 2021, to “complain about a column written by [independent reporter] Alex Berenson that criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci.”
“This is whats [sic] promoted on Twitter. This is why Tony needs a security detail,” Gottlieb wrote.
The lawsuit notes how Gottlieb “had a conference call with Twitter employees to discuss Mr. Berenson” shortly thereafter on Aug. 27, 2021. Berenson was summarily banned from the platform the following day.
Examples of Pfizer purportedly colluding with Big Tech and federal agencies to target so-called Covid “disinformation” are also listed in the lawsuit.
Censorship of Covid-related social media posts is front and center in Murthy v. Missouri. Brought by Missouri and Louisiana, the case examines the federal government’s coordinated efforts to silence unfavorable speech online, particularly posts questioning the government’s unscientific Covid response. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on the matter later this month.
Kobach indicated that four states are considering joining his lawsuit. The Republican attorney general specifically named Idaho, “but did not name the others, saying they would make their own announcements in their own time,” according to local media.
Kobach’s lawsuit makes Kansas the third state to take action against Covid shot manufacturers for purportedly misleading consumers about their safety and efficacy. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a suit against Pfizer in November, similarly alleging the company “engaged in false, deceptive, and misleading acts and practices by making unsupported claims” about its Covid shot.
Meanwhile, the Florida Supreme Court granted a request by Gov. Ron DeSantis in December 2022 to launch a grand jury investigation into Covid jab manufacturers for potential “wrongdoing.” That grand jury — whose investigation remains ongoing — has since issued two interim reports on its findings, which can be found here and here.
