On Monday, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a complaint against Pfizer, alleging that the drugmaker had purposefully misled users about the safety and effectiveness of its Covid shot. Additionally, the Republican official claimed that Pfizer and Big Tech companies conspired to judge speech that was offensive.
” You do not deceive customers, and you particularly must not confuse users when consumers are making an immediate, frantic choice, believing that their life might be on the line”, Kobach said during a Monday press conference.
Filed in the District Court of Thomas County, Kansas, the 69- site lawsuit alleges that Pfizer claimed its Covid shot “was healthy even though it knew its COVID- 19 vaccine was connected to severe adverse events, including myocarditis and pericarditis, failed pregnancies, and deaths”, and worked to” mask” such information from the public. According to the lawsuit, the pharmaceutical company made similar decisions regarding the jab’s long-term efficacy and ability to combat future variants.
According to the lawsuit,” Pfizer’s actions and statements regarding its COVID- 19 vaccine infringed previous consent judgments with the State of Kansas” and the Kansas Consumer Protection Act, regardless of whether any individual consumer ultimately received Pfizer’s COVID- 19 vaccine.” ” Pfizer must be held accountable for falsely representing the benefits of its COVID- 19 vaccine while concealing and suppressing the truth about its vaccine’s safety risks, waning effectiveness, and inability to prevent transmission”.
When Pfizer first introduced the product in late 2020, it claimed that its shot was “95 % effective against COVID- 19 beginning 28 days after the first dose.” As my colleague Jordan Boyd previously explained, the pharma giant “used this statistic, based on a final efficacy analysis, to , bully , Americans into getting the shots in the name of protecting their family and friends from the virus”.
The lawsuit claims that Pfizer “worked to censor speech on social media that questioned” its claims regarding its Covid jab, citing allegedly coordinated efforts by company officials to compel Big Tech to censor posts it did n’t like. The lawsuit specifically brings up alleged communications between then-Twitter ( now X ) and Scott Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner and Pfizer board member, who allegedly contacted the social media platform on August 24, 2021 to” complain about a column written by independent reporter ] Alex Berenson that criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci.”
” This is whats ]sic ] promoted on Twitter. This is why Tony needs a security detail”, Gottlieb wrote.
The lawsuit notes how Gottlieb “had a conference call with Twitter employees to discuss Mr. Berenson” shortly thereafter on Aug. 27, 2021. The following day, Benson was immediately removed from the platform.
In the lawsuit, Pfizer is also cited as colluding with Big Tech and federal agencies to target so-called Covid “disinformation.”
In Murthy v. Missouri, censorship of Covid-related social media posts is at the forefront. Brought by Missouri and Louisiana, the case examines the federal government’s coordinated efforts to silence unfavorable speech online, particularly posts questioning the government’s unscientific Covid response. Later this month, the U.S. Supreme Court is anticipated to make a decision in this regard.
Kobach stated that four states are thinking about joining his lawsuit. According to local media, the Republican attorney general specifically named Idaho, but he did not name the others, saying they would make their own announcements in their own time.
Kansas becomes the third state to sue Covid shot producers for allegedly deceiving consumers about their safety and effectiveness in the wake of Kobach’s lawsuit. In November, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Pfizer, alleging that the company “engaged in false, deceptive, and misleading acts and practices” by fabricating information about its Covid shot.
Meanwhile, the Florida Supreme Court granted a request by Gov. Ron DeSantis will launch a grand jury investigation into Covid jab producers in December 2022 to look into potential “wrongdoing.” The grand jury’s investigation is still ongoing, and it has since released two interim reports outlining its findings. They can be found here and here.
Shawn Fleetwood is a University of Mary Washington graduate and a staff writer for The Federalist. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClear Health, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
