Attorney General Ken Paxton sues Pfizer for misrepresenting COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness and conspiring to censor public discourse

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Pfizer, Inc., for unlawfully misrepresenting the effectiveness of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine and attempting to censor public discussion of the product.

Pfizer engaged in false, misleading, and deceptive acts and practices by making unsupported claims about the company’s COVID-19 vaccine in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

The pharmaceutical company’s widespread representation that its vaccine was 95% effective against infection was highly misleading. This metric represented a calculation of the so-called “relative risk reduction” for vaccinated individuals in Pfizer’s first two-month clinical trial results. FDA publications state that “relative risk reduction” is a misleading statistic that “unduly influences[s]” consumer choice. Pfizer was also made aware at the time that vaccine protection could not be accurately predicted beyond two months. Nevertheless, Pfizer promoted a misleading impression that vaccine protection was durable and withheld public information that undermined its claims about the duration of protection. And despite the fact that its clinical trials failed to measure whether the vaccine protected against transmission, Pfizer embarked on a campaign to scare the public into getting the vaccine as a necessary measure to protect their loved ones.

In fact, Pfizer’s product did not live up to the company’s representations. COVID-19 cases increased after widespread vaccine administration, and some areas experienced a higher percentage of deaths from COVID-19 among the vaccinated population than the unvaccinated. As the flaw in their product became apparent, Pfizer then proceeded to silence truth-tellers. The lawsuit notes: “How did Pfizer respond when it became clear 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. Pfizer labeled those spreading the facts about the vaccine as ‘criminals.’ It accused them of spreading ‘misinformation.’ And it forced social media platforms to silence prominent truth-tellers.”

“We are pursuing justice for the people of Texas, many of whom were forced by tyrannical vaccine mandates to take a defective product sold by lies,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The facts are clear. Pfizer did not tell the truth about their COVID-19 vaccines. While the Biden administration weaponized the pandemic to force illegal public health decrees on the public and enrich pharmaceutical companies, I will use every tool at my disposal to protect our citizens who were misled and harmed by Pfizer’s actions.”

The lawsuit follows Attorney General Paxton’s investigation of Pfizer and other vaccine manufacturers announced earlier this year.

To read the petition, click here .