Pfizer: Sales Before Child Safety

 The UK's national public broadcaster, the BBC, published on its website, its popular news app, and in a flagship news program, a video interview with Dr Albert Bourla, the Chairman and CEO of Pfizer, a free pass promotional opportunity that money cannot buy - as the BBC is usually prohibited from carrying commercial advertising or product placement.

Misleading statements about safety

• Among his explicit and implicit encouragements for the UK to order more of his company's shots, Dr Bourla commented emphatically about the merits of vaccinating children under 12 years of age, saying "[So] there is no doubt in my mind that the benefits, completely are in favor of doing it [vaccinating 5 to 11 year-olds in the UK and Europe]".
• No mention of risks or potential adverse events, nor indeed the weighing of any factors other than apparent benefits: Dr Bourlai was straightforwardly convinced that the US and EU should be immunizing millions of children.

A year-long, painful process

• An industry-appointed appeal board affirmed the PMCPA's original findings that Dr Bourla's comments on using the Covid vaccine for 5 to 11 year-olds were promotional, and were both misleading and incapable of substantiation in relation to the safety of vaccinating that age group.
• Even after UsForThem involved a number of prominent UK parliamentarians, including Sir Graham Brady MP, to help accelerate the complaint, the process was dragged on - or perhaps 'out' - while the rollout of Pfizer's vaccine to UK under-12s proceeded.

No meaningful penalty

• Pfizer has been found to have broken the UK medicines advertising rules in relation to its Covid vaccine a further four times since 2020.
• Astonishingly, for their breaches in this most recent case, and in each of the other cases decided against it, neither Pfizer nor Dr Bourla will suffer any meaningful penalty.
• In practice, neither has any incentive to regret the breach or to avoid repeating it if it remains commercially expedient to do so.

Endnote: an undisclosed briefing document

• Pfizer relied on the content of an internal briefing document prepared for the CEO by Pfizer's UK compliance team before the BBC interview.
• UsForThem was offered a partially redacted version of the document, and only then under terms of a perpetual and blanket confidentiality undertaking.
• They reluctantly agreed to accept the redacted document and keep it confidential subject to one limited exception.

https://brownstone.org/articles/pfizer-sales-before-child-safety/