Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach has filed a lawsuit against Pfizer, alleging that the pharmaceutical giant misled the public with false claims about its COVID-19 vaccine.
The lawsuit states that Pfizer’s adverse events database contained 158,893 adverse events as of February 28, 2021, contradicting its representations that the vaccine did not have any serious safety concerns.
The suit also highlights how Pfizer claimed that vaccinated trial participants enjoyed 91.3 percent protection against COVID-19 up to six months after a second dose. However, documents released later showed that Pfizer recorded 83.7 percent effectiveness among trial participants at four months after a second dose, while finding indications in blood samples that effectiveness was waning even more at six months.
Pfizer disclosed the waning effectiveness in a preprint paper on July 28, 2021, but omitted mention of the preprint paper or how it had found signs of waning protection.
The suit states that Pfizer’s concealment, suppression, and omission of the waning effectiveness allowed Pfizer to profit from vaccinations of Kansans who may have been deterred from Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine had they known about its waning effectiveness.
In the second quarter of 2021, Pfizer made nearly $8 billion from its COVID-19 vaccine. The suit also notes that Pfizer’s CEO, Albert Bourla, said in early 2023 that “we constantly review and analyze the data” and “we have seen not a single signal although we have distributed billions of doses.”
Kobach’s complaint alleges that Pfizer made false, misleading, and deceptive claims in violation of consent judgments it previously entered into with Kansas and other states to settle separate allegations. He seeks damages, including $20,000 for each violation of each of the agreements.
