Kansas sues Pfizer, saying it misled the public over COVID-19 vaccine

[BigBruv]

https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/2024061829/kansas-sues-pfizer-saying-it-misled-the-public-over-covid-19-vaccine

The state of Kansas has filed a lawsuit against Pfizer alleging the company misled the public about the safety and effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine including by working to

censor critical information on social media.

 

 

https://www.reuters.com/legal/kansas-accuses-pfizer-misleading-public-about-covid-vaccine-lawsuit-2024-06-17/

June 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. state of Kansas on Monday sued Pfizer (PFE.N), opens new tab, accusing the company of misleading the public about its COVID-19 vaccine by hiding risks while making false claims about its effectiveness.

 

 

🍿

[impulse]

I'm encouraged by the lawsuit (first of many, I hope).  Largely because it could force Big Pharma and the gub'ment to open the books on the secret agreements they signed leading up to the EUA for mRNA's.  And force Big Pharma to cough up the research and reveal what they did know, and when.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The lawsuit here by a far right-wing idealogue state attorney general is basically a copycat of a prior case, as noted in the Reuters report linked above, filed months ago by a similar right-wing AG in Texas, which drew the following assessment:

Texas sues Pfizer with COVID anti-vax argument that is pure stupid

12/5/2023

...

"In all, Paxton's 54-page complaint acts as a compendium of pandemic-era anti-vaccine misinformation and tropes while making a slew of unsupported claims. But, central to the Lone Star State's shaky legal argument is one that centers on the standard math Pfizer used to assess the effectiveness of its vaccine: a calculation of relative risk reduction.

 

This argument is as unoriginal as it is incorrect. Anti-vaccine advocates have championed this flawed math-based theory since the height of the pandemic. Actual experts have roundly debunked it many times. Still, it appears in all its absurd glory in Paxton's lawsuit last week, which seeks $10 million in reparations."

 

https://arstechnica.com/health/2023/12/texas-sues-pfizer-with-covid-anti-vax-argument-that-is-pure-stupid/

 

Kobach's lawsuit makes the exact same argument in its filing, as follows:

 

 

https://ag.ks.gov/docs/default-source/documents/2024-06-15-pfizer-complaint-(002).pdf?sfvrsn=eb8bbe1a_8

 

 

Also, the Associated Press did a profile on Kobach in 2022 that included the following on his background and history of questionable claims and legal initiatives, which should be considered when evaluating the likely merits of his claims being made in this Pfizer case:

 

"Kobach also pushed the idea that droves of people could be voting illegally and championed a tough prove-your-citizenship rule for new Kansas voters, only to see the federal courts strike it down and order the state to pay voting rights attorneys $1.4 million.

 

Kobach served as co-chairman of Trump’s short-lived presidential advisory commission on “election integrity” and promoted Trump’s lies about widespread voter fraud. At the time, The Associated Press reported that Kobach oversaw an election system in Kansas that threw out at least three times as many ballots in the 2016 election as any similarly sized state did, fueling concerns about massive voter suppression should its practices become the national standard."

 

https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-abortion-voting-rights-presidential-immigration-3ec99db94c0d772465d3a7ccf015ccc6

 

 

Edited June 19 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The above-linked Reuters report also took issue with other claims made in Kobach's lawsuit, such as:

 

"The lawsuit claims that, beginning shortly after the vaccine's rollout in early 2021, Pfizer concealed evidence that the shot was linked to pregnancy complications, including miscarriage, as well as inflammation in and around the heart, known as myocarditis and pericarditis.

...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in June 2021 added a warning about myocarditis and pericarditis to the vaccine's label. The side effects are rare and most often occur in adolescent boys and young men.

 

A 2023 review of 21 studies by the U.S. National Institutes of Health concluded that COVID vaccines were not linked to miscarriage."

 

https://www.reuters.com/legal/kansas-accuses-pfizer-misleading-public-about-covid-vaccine-lawsuit-2024-06-17/

 

Edited June 19 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[impulse]

32 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

The lawsuit here by a far right-wing idealogue state attorney general is basically a copycat of a prior case, as noted in the Reuters report linked above, filed months ago by a similar right-wing AG in Texas, which drew the following assessment:

Texas sues Pfizer with COVID anti-vax argument that is pure stupid

 

You can tell it's an impartial review of the facts, just by the title.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The home state Kansas City Star newspaper also reported the following in its news report on Kobach's lawsuit:

 

"The lawsuit, filed in state court in Thomas County, comes after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a similar lawsuit in November. Kobach said at a news conference on Monday that Kansas is one of several states taking legal action against Pfizer. The company said in a statement the lawsuit is without merit.

 

Kobach, a Republican, is launching the legal challenge as the pandemic has begun to fade in the public consciousness. But anger at vaccine manufacturers, including conspiracy theories surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines, are rampant among parts of the right."

 

https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article289330650.html

 

 

Edited June 19 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Another large Kansas newspaper, the Topeka Capital-Journal, also has the following very strange excerpt in its news report on Kobach's lawsuit, which makes it sound like his own state attorneys won't even be taking the lead on the Pfizer case. Instead:

 

"The Kansas lawsuit is likely being handled by the James Otis Law Group, a firm that Kobach contracted with for a secretive pharmaceutical case. The request for proposals had said the attorney general's office was "in the early stages" of an investigation into "alleged unfair or unconscionable acts or practices involving the drug manufacturer industry" targeting "a particular firm."

...

The [law] firm was founded by former Missouri solicitor general Dean John Sauer. He has represented former President Donald Trump, arguing that he should be immune from criminal prosecution for charges connected to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Sauer gained national attention when arguing in a federal appellate court that presidential immunity could hypothetically cover ordering Navy SEALs to assassinate a political rival."

 

The Topeka Capital-Journal

https://archive.ph/mEVXg

 

All of the above reports give a pretty good sense of the backgrounds of those filing and pursuing these cases against Pfizer.

 

 

Edited June 19 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[dhupverg]

 

 

Any idea why the trials did not involve pregrant women, then just a short time after geting EUA, it was "safe and effective" for pregnant women?  Pfizer clearly omitted pregnant women from the trial, then goes on to safe "safe and effective" with zero supporting data that I've seen.  Surely our resident expert has some data on this for pregnant women that Pfizer submitted to back up this claim.

 

Has there been a covid thread that our resident expert of all things covid and injection hasn't pulled up multiple links and posted comments in?  Good on Kansas along with Missouri for calling out the lies and omissions from Pfizer?  

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

There was data, and lots of it, early on in the vaccine rollout relating to pregnant women, as detailed below, before the CDC finally did begin recommending the vaccines for pregnant women starting in August 2021.

 

Also, it was typical back at that time for pregnant women to NOT be included in clinical trials for new medicines and vaccines, so the Pfizer clinical trials were not unusual in that regard.

 

Per the UK-based FullFact fact checking website in an Oct. 2021 post:

 

"As we have written before, pregnant women were excluded from the initial large-scale Covid-19 vaccine trials. There were 57 unintended pregnancies during the trials, but the number of cases was so small that they can’t be extrapolated in a meaningful way to the rest of the population. 

 

However, there have been studies of different data sets from women who were vaccinated in pregnancy as part of the general roll out, with the aim of identifying any problems or safety concerns either in pregnancy or after birth. The results have been compared against the usual rate at which issues (such as miscarriage or preterm birth) would sadly normally be expected in populations of women who have not receieved a Covid-19 vaccine. One study also compared women vaccinated in pregnancy against women who had a Covid-19 infection during pregnancy. 

 

From these, no significant safety concerns have arisen." [emphasis added]

 

Source:

 

Also, right or wrong, as mentioned above, it had been the norm in the past to initially exclude pregnant women from clinical trials for new medicines and vaccines, as the following 2023 study reported:

 

"Pregnant women are generally excluded from clinical trials due to fears over the safety of the foetus as well as uncertainties about the effect of pregnancy-related physiological changes on the pharmaco-dynamics and -kinetics of different investigational products [1], [2]. Additionally, pregnant women-related bioethical dilemmas contribute to the complexity and reluctance to include them in clinical trials [3], [4]. An example of such conundrums would be the inability of foetuses to provide consent to any possible trial that recruits pregnant women."

...

In the last decades, the lack of pregnancy-related safety data gained increased attention. In 2011, a study demonstrated that approximately 91 % of FDA-approved drugs between 2000 and 2010 had no or “very limited” safety data on human intake during pregnancy."

 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264410X23012598

 

That said, the regulatory agencies did gather data early in the COVID vaccine rollout to ensure that the vaccines were/are safe for pregnant women:

 

The following FactCheck.org report from June 2021 (and later updated) included the following background:

 

"Clinical trials and medical studies have indicated that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe for pregnant people."

...

Update, Aug. 16: Citing more accumulated safety data, including an analysis of outcomes of pregnant people enrolled in v-safe, another vaccine surveillance system, the CDC recommended on Aug. 11 that pregnant people be vaccinated. The new CDC study, not yet peer-reviewed or published, found no increased risk of miscarriage with vaccination. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine had already strongly recommended vaccination for all pregnant people on July 30, given evidence “demonstrating the safe use of the COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy from tens of thousands of reporting individuals over the last several months, as well as the current low vaccination rates and concerning increase in cases.”

 

https://www.factcheck.org/2021/06/scicheck-evidence-points-to-safety-of-covid-19-vaccines-for-pregnant-people/

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

From the U.S. CDC in August 2021:

 

"A new CDC analysis of current data from the v-safe pregnancy registry assessed vaccination early in pregnancy and did not find an increased risk of miscarriage among nearly 2,500 pregnant women who received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine before 20 weeks of pregnancy. Miscarriage typically occurs in about 11-16% of pregnancies, and this study found miscarriage rates after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine were around 13%, similar to the expected rate of miscarriage in the general population.

 

Previously, data from three safety monitoring systems did not find any safety concerns for pregnant people who were vaccinated late in pregnancy or for their babies. Combined, these data and the known severe risks of COVID-19 during pregnancy demonstrate that the benefits of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine for pregnant people outweigh any known or potential risks."

 

Source:

 

Which only after all of the above finally led to:

 

CDC recommends pregnant women get COVID-19 vaccine

August 11, 2021

 

"Aug 11 (Reuters) - Pregnant women should be vaccinated against COVID-19, based on a new analysis that did not show increased risk for miscarriage, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday.

 

The CDC said it has found no safety concerns for pregnant people in either the new analysis or earlier studies. It said miscarriage rates after vaccination were similar to the expected rate. Pregnant women can receive any of the three vaccines given emergency authorization -- Pfizer (PFE.N), Moderna (MRNA.O), or Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N).

 

The agency had not previously recommended pregnant women get vaccinated but had said that they should discuss vaccination with their health care providers. [emphasis added]

 

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/cdc-recommends-pregnant-women-get-covid-19-vaccine-2021-08-11/

 

 

 

 

[impulse]

3 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

"Aug 11 (Reuters) - Pregnant women should be vaccinated against COVID-19, based on a new analysis that did not show increased risk for miscarriage, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday.

 

The CDC said it has found no safety concerns for pregnant people in either the new analysis or earlier studies. It said miscarriage rates after vaccination were similar to the expected rate. Pregnant women can receive any of the three vaccines given emergency authorization -- Pfizer (PFE.N), Moderna (MRNA.O), or Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N).

 

The agency had not previously recommended pregnant women get vaccinated but had said that they should discuss vaccination with their health care providers. [emphasis added]

 

So they had zero data on how it affects early child development.  All they claim is that they don't think it affects miscarriages.  And they still  recommend the mRNA for pregnant women, in spite of a 1 in 1800 chance of dying if anyone in the 0-39 age group got Covid.

 

Did they learn nothing from Thalidomide?

 

Here's my link...  My post of June 8 with the data.

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1329225-us-fda-panel-supports-switch-to-jn1-for-fall-covid-vaccines/#

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The health risks for pregnant women and infants from COVID are higher than for other various other groups, except for the elderly.

Study finds prenatal vaccination protects infants from COVID

November 11, 2023

Infants as old as 6 months were protected from COVID-19 infections only when mothers were vaccinated prenatally, and not before pregnancy, according to a new study in JAMA Network Open.

 

The study is one of the largest to compare outcomes among infants whose mothers were vaccinated before pregnancy, during pregnancy, or were unvaccinated at the time of birth.

 

Infants younger than 6 months are at an increased risk for severe COVID-19, and accounted for 44% of all pediatric COVID hospitalizations during the Omicron dominant period beginning in December 2021. Infants younger than 6 months remain the only group ineligible for COVID vaccination in the United States. [emphasis added]

 

(more)

 

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/study-finds-prenatal-vaccination-protects-infants-covid

 

AND

 

COVID-19 risks during pregnancy

April 05, 2024

 

"Pregnant people seem to catch the virus that causes COVID-19 at about the same rate as people who aren't pregnant. Also, pregnant people usually get better without needing care in the hospital. But pregnancy is a factor that raises the risk of severe COVID-19. That risk stays higher for at least a month after giving birth.

...

Pregnant people with severe COVID-19 also may be more likely to develop other health problems as a result of COVID-19. They include heart damage, blood clots and kidney damage. Moderate to severe symptoms from COVID-19 have also been linked to higher rates of preterm birth, high blood pressure or preeclampsia.

 

These risks may shift as the virus that causes COVID-19 changes. Risks also may change as disease prevention and treatment evolve. But risks are lowered significantly when a pregnant person gets the COVID-19 vaccine."

 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/pregnancy-and-covid-19/art-20482639

 

 

 

 

Edited June 19 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Also from December 2023:

COVID-19 hospitalizations are increasing in US, rates are highest among oldest and youngest Americans

...

"Rates of COVID hospitalizations remain elevated among senior citizens, middle-aged adults and children under age 4, meaning the virus is affecting both the oldest and youngest Americans.

...

Young kids also at risk of severe illness

Infants and young children under age 4 have the third-highest rate of hospitalizations by age group at 1.6% per 100,000 for the week ending Dec. 2, CDC data shows.

 

Although children are less likely to fall severely ill and die from COVID compared to adults, they can get sick enough to be hospitalized."

 

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/covid-19-hospitalizations-increasing-us-rates-highest-oldest/story?id=105452104

 

 

AND

 

Covid-19 is a leading cause of death for children in the US, despite relatively low mortality rate

January 30, 2023

 

(CNN)  — Covid-19 has become the eighth most common cause of death among children in the United States, according to a study published Monday.

...

The researchers’ analysis of data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that there were 821 Covid-19 deaths in this age group during a 12-month period from August 2021 to July 2022. That death rate – about 1 for every 100,000 children ages 0 to 19 – ranks eighth compared with the 2019 data.

...

Covid-19 deaths displace influenza and pneumonia, becoming the top cause of death caused by any infectious or respiratory disease. It caused “substantially” more deaths than any vaccine-preventable disease historically, the researchers wrote.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/30/health/covid-deaths-children/index.html

 

 

Edited June 19 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[connda]

Given enough time and no matter how much effort is made to suppress it, the facts regarding the efficacy and safety of Covid mRNA vaccines and the how and why the FDA allowed their released on the public will eventually rise to the surface and be published in the same news media which suppressed facts countering their efficacy and safety in the first place.  It will just take time.  Legal battles in the courts will pry the lid off of any corporate malfeasance.  And if they are 100% safe and effective?  That will come out in court too. 
Let the games begin and let the chips fall where they may.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Yep, let's let the facts come out, as the Reuters report did earlier in this thread.

 

Kobach's lawsuit, and the prior Texas one the Kansas lawsuit is modeled after, complain about COVID vaccines and about supposedly undisclosed myocarditis and miscarriage issues.

 

And yet as the Reuters report on the Kansas lawsuit notes:

 

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in June 2021 added a warning about myocarditis and pericarditis to the vaccine's label. The side effects are rare and most often occur in adolescent boys and young men.

 

AND

 

"A 2023 review of 21 studies by the U.S. National Institutes of Health concluded that COVID vaccines were not linked to miscarriage."

 

https://www.reuters.com/legal/kansas-accuses-pfizer-misleading-public-about-covid-vaccine-lawsuit-2024-06-17/

 

Or the following from back in fall 2021 when COVID vaccines were first recommended for pregnant women in the U.S.:

 

"Clinical trials and medical studies have indicated that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe for pregnant people."

...

Update, Aug. 16: Citing more accumulated safety data, including an analysis of outcomes of pregnant people enrolled in v-safe, another vaccine surveillance system, the CDC recommended on Aug. 11 that pregnant people be vaccinated. The new CDC study, not yet peer-reviewed or published, found no increased risk of miscarriage with vaccination. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine had already strongly recommended vaccination for all pregnant people on July 30, given evidence “demonstrating the safe use of the COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy from tens of thousands of reporting individuals over the last several months, as well as the current low vaccination rates and concerning increase in cases.”

 

https://www.factcheck.org/2021/06/scicheck-evidence-points-to-safety-of-covid-19-vaccines-for-pregnant-people/

Edited June 21 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[novacova]

5 minutes ago, connda said:

Given enough time and no matter how much effort is made to suppress it, the facts regarding the efficacy and safety of Covid mRNA vaccines and the how and why the FDA allowed their released on the public will eventually rise to the surface and be published in the same news media which suppressed facts countering their efficacy and safety in the first place.  It will just take time.  Legal battles in the courts will pry the lid off of any corporate malfeasance.  And if they are 100% safe and effective?  That will come out in court too. 
Let the games begin and let the chips fall where they may.

Sure the truth is and will continue to come out in the open, eventually, though when the entire truth is exposed may be years into the future. Though it will be denied and buried with a perpetual onslaught of distractions and eventually the vaccine enthusiasts will pretend and ignore anything that contradicts an ironed belief then forgotten. Though some of us took note of the fallacy and scam from the get go. 

[stevenl]

9 hours ago, novacova said:

Sure the truth is and will continue to come out in the open, eventually, though when the entire truth is exposed may be years into the future. Though it will be denied and buried with a perpetual onslaught of distractions and eventually the vaccine enthusiasts will pretend and ignore anything that contradicts an ironed belief then forgotten. Though some of us took note of the fallacy and scam from the get go. 

The truth has come out already, you just don't like it.