Shots fired in Texas (no pun intended):
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, deceptive, and misleading acts and practices by making unsupported claims regarding the company's COVID-19 vaccine in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
Hoo boy!
The attorney general claims that Pfizer's "widespread representation that its vaccine possessed 95% efficacy against infection was highly misleading."
This comes as no surprise to those of us at Not the Bee, who have been on top of this beat for quite a while now:
Can't say I'm surprised to read about allegedly misleading effectiveness campaigns!
If you want to get into the technical weeds of Paxton's lawsuit, here's one of its central claims:
[The 95%] metric represented a calculation of the so-called "relative risk reduction" for vaccinated individuals in Pfizer's initial, two-month clinical trial results. FDA publications indicate "relative risk reduction" is a misleading statistic that "unduly influence[s]" consumer choice.
The shot "failed to live up to the company's representations," the AG's office said.
The lawsuit asks that Pfizer be forbidden from "making representations about the efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine" in this manner; it also asks for some fines.
If you need me I'll be over here popping the you-know-what!
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
