Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Thursday against Pfizer for allegedly misrepresenting the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine and “conspiring to censor” critics.
The lawsuit alleges Pfizer “deceived the public” by claiming its vaccine was 95% effective, as well as through suggestions it made about the vaccine’s duration of protection, protection against transmission and protectiveness against variants. Pfizer then “coerced social media platforms to silence prominent truth-tellers,” including a former FDA Commissioner Brett Giroir and journalist Alex Berenson, engaging in a “censorship campaign” to suppress content that would negatively impact sales, according to the lawsuit. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Air Force Begs Troops Booted Over COVID-19 Vax To Come Back)
“Pfizer intentionally misrepresented the efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine and censored persons who threatened to disseminate the truth in order to facilitate fast adoption of the product and expand its commercial opportunity,” the complaint alleges. “In light of the multi-billion dollar bet that Pfizer made on the vaccine and its need to quickly establish the product as the marketing leader, Pfizer was heavily incentivized to, and in fact did, make misrepresentations intended to confuse and mislead the public in order to achieve widespread adoption of its vaccine.”
BREAKING:🚨 I am suing Pfizer for misrepresenting Covid-19 vaccine efficacy and conspiring to censor public discourse. pic.twitter.com/63mZ1y6FNC
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) November 30, 2023
The complaint states that government reports show in some places “a greater percentage of the vaccinated were dying from COVID-19 than the unvaccinated” by 2021.
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 01: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks outside the U.S. Supreme Court on November 01, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“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 in a statement. “The facts are clear. Pfizer did not tell the truth about their COVID-19 vaccines.” (RELATED: Former HHS Official Who Worked With Fauci To Downplay Lab Leak Reveals Theory On COVID Origins)
“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,” he continued.
Pfizer said the case “has no merit” in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“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 company said. “The representations made by the company about its COVID-19 vaccine have been accurate and science-based.”
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