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The state of Texas, through its Attorney General Ken Paxton, has recently initiated legal proceedings against Pfizer, Inc. This lawsuit accuses the pharmaceutical company of distributing misleading information about the efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine and attempting to hinder public dialogue about the product.
In the lawsuit, it is alleged that Pfizer’s behavior and public announcements about their COVID-19 vaccine were deceptive, false, and resulted in misinformation. These actions are said to have contravened the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Pfizer, it is argued, knowingly made assertions about its vaccine that were not sufficiently backed by scientific evidence.
The lawsuit states that Pfizer’s assertion that the vaccine has a 95% effectiveness in preventing infection was highly misleading. This number is based on a metric known as ‘relative risk reduction’ drawn from the initial clinical trial results over a span of two months. According to the documents released by the FDA, a ‘relative risk reduction’ metric can provide a misleading perspective and unduly influence consumer choice.
Despite having received a warning about the impossibility of accurately predicting the vaccine’s protection beyond two months, the company continued to give the public an incorrect impression about the long-lasting nature of the vaccine. Pfizer has been accused of withholding critical information that could debunk its claims about the duration of the vaccine’s protective effects, according to the allegations.
Additionally, the lawsuit contends that even though Pfizer did not establish through its clinical trials whether the vaccine prevents transmission, the company launched a campaign to convince the public that getting vaccinated was essential for protecting their close ones. This action has been interpreted as a form of intimidation in the legal proceedings.
The lawsuit states that Pfizer’s vaccine did not meet the effectiveness standards that the company publicly claimed. Despite widespread vaccination, the number of COVID-19 cases reportedly increased, and some regions reported a higher death rate from COVID-19 among vaccinated individuals than among those who were unvaccinated.
When it became evident that the vaccine was not as effective as initially marketed, the document alleges that Pfizer altered its tactics. The company focused its efforts on controlling the narrative and silencing those who spoke out about the issues with the vaccine, according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Pfizer’s reaction to the realization that its vaccine was not living up to its promises, and thus threatening its financial benefits, was to suppress those highlighting the truth. The company has been accused of colluding to censor criticism, labeling truth-speakers as ‘criminals’, and accusing them of spreading ‘misinformation.’ Moreover, Pfizer is said to have pressured social media platforms to quiet those prominently sharing these facts.
In Attorney General Paxton’s words, their pursuit is for ‘justice for the people of Texas, many of whom were coerced by tyrannical vaccine mandates to take a defective product sold by lies.’ He emphasized the assertion that Pfizer ‘did not tell the truth about their COVID-19 vaccines.’
The attorney general contrasted the actions of Pfizer with the policies of the current Biden administration, which he accuses of using the pandemic to enforce ‘illegal public health decrees’ that benefited pharmaceutical companies. Paxton asserted his commitment to using all available resources to protect citizens who he believes were deceived and hurt by Pfizer’s actions.
The action against Pfizer forms part of a larger investigative effort initiated by Attorney General Paxton. Earlier this year, he announced an investigation into Pfizer and several other vaccine manufacturers. The focus of these investigations is the conduct and claims of these companies amid the ongoing public health crisis caused by the pandemic.
