Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Pfizer over allegations the pharmaceutical company misrepresented the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine.
Paxton announced the lawsuit Thursday. The suit focuses on claims that Pfizer “engaged in false, deceptive, and misleading acts and practices” by promoting its vaccine. The attorney general claimed the corporation’s actions violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which aims to protect consumers from unethical business practices.
“Pfizer fostered a misleading impression that vaccine protection was durable and withheld from the public information that undermined its claims about the duration of protection,” a press release from Paxton’s office states. “And, despite the fact that its clinical trial failed to measure whether the vaccine protects against transmission, Pfizer embarked on a campaign to intimidate the public into getting the vaccine as a necessary measure to protect their loved ones.”
In the lawsuit, Paxton argued against claims made by Pfizer that its vaccine was 95% effective. Pfizer dismissed the attorney general’s assertions in a lengthy statement.
“Pfizer is deeply committed to the well-being of the patients it serves and has no higher priority than the safety and effectiveness of its treatments and vaccines,” the statement reads. “Since its initial authorization by FDA in December 2020, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has been administered to more than 1.5 billion people, demonstrated a favorable safety profile in all age groups, and helped protect against severe COVID-19 outcomes, including hospitalization and death.”
“The representations made by the company about its COVID-19 vaccine have been accurate and science-based,” the company claimed.
A medical analysis of 68 studies found that COVID-19 vaccines’ effectiveness against infection, hospitalization, and mortality decreased significantly within a year of inoculation. Vaccines’ effectiveness saw a similar decrease in countering the omicron variant of the virus.
“We are pursuing justice for the people of Texas, many of whom were coerced by tyrannical vaccine mandates to take a defective product sold by lies,” Paxton said. “The facts are clear. Pfizer did not tell the truth about their COVID-19 vaccines. Whereas the Biden Administration weaponized the pandemic to force illegal public health decrees on the public and enrich pharmaceutical companies, I will use every tool I have to protect our citizens who were misled and harmed by Pfizer’s actions.”
The attorney general claims in the lawsuit that not only did Pfizer misrepresent its vaccine, but the company actively sought to silence those who doubted them.
“How did Pfizer respond when it became apparent that its vaccine was failing and the viability of its cash cow was threatened? By intimidating those spreading the truth, and by conspiring to censor its critics,” the lawsuit reads. “Pfizer labeled as ‘criminals’ those who spread facts about the vaccine. It accused them of spreading ‘misinformation.’ And it coerced social media platforms to silence prominent truth-tellers.”
