Pfizer and its CEO misled Florida residents about the safety and effectiveness of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine, according to a lawsuit from Florida’s attorney general.
Pfizer deceived consumers about the safety risks associated with the shot, including in an April 1, 2021, press release that said there were “no serious safety concerns” through six months after a second dose, the lawsuit, filed on Oct. 1 in Florida circuit court, said.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla later told CNBC in a 2023 interview: “We constantly review and analyze the data. We’ve not seen a single [safety] signal although we have distributed billions of doses.”
Florida Attorney General said in a video statement after filing the suit: “What they didn’t say? That they knew about myocarditis in teenagers and young adults. They had reports of thousands of adverse events, including stroke and death. And they had reason to know the shot posed risks to pregnant women and unborn babies in the first trimester.”
Federal officials in the United States and Israel identified a signal for myocarditis, or heart inflammation, among other health issues, in 2021 for the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. U.S. regulatory labels warned of the risk of heart inflammation in 2021.
Pfizer said at the time it was aware of reports of myocarditis after receipt of its vaccine, Uthmeier’s lawsuit noted, although the company said no causal link had been established.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in 2023, after Bourla’s interview, that there was a causal link.
Pfizer says on its website now that data “demonstrate increased risks of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and pericarditis (inflammation of the lining outside the heart), particularly within the first week following vaccination.”
Pfizer also had reason to believe its vaccine posed risks for pregnant women and their babies in the first trimester, Uthmeier also alleged in the suit, referencing fetal abnormalities detected during testing on rats and reports of miscarriages after Pfizer vaccination received by early 2021.
Pfizer said the higher incidence of abnormalities in the rat testing was “not considered to be treatment-related,” in a filing to Australian regulators. The company’s label for its vaccine now states that “there are no available data on … use in pregnant women before 24 weeks gestation to inform about risks for major birth defects and miscarriage.”
Pfizer and Bourla were also deceptive by saying everyone needed to receive a vaccine to stop transmission, according to the suit.
“This choice not to vaccinate will not affect only your health or your life,” Bourla said in a December 2020 interview. “Unfortunately, it will affect the lives of others and likely the lives of the people you love the most, who are the people that usually you are in contact with.”
The Food and Drug Administration said that month that there was no evidence the vaccine prevents transmission of COVID-19, and a Pfizer executive said in 2022 that the vaccine was not tested on stopping transmission.
The complaint asks the court to find Pfizer and Bourla violated Florida laws, including the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, and fine the defendants $10,000 to $15,000 for each legal violation.
Pfizer did not respond to a request for comment. A federal judge in 2025 dismissed a similar case filed by the Texas attorney general, finding that a federal law conferred immunity on Pfizer against such claims.
