Judge dismisses lawsuit against Pfizer for only defrauding public, not government

A Texas judge Friday dismissed a lawsuit against Pfizer and clinical site inspection company Ventavia because they were only accused of defrauding the public during COVID-19 vaccine trials, but not the US government.

Ventavia whistleblower Brook Jackson, who was a clinical site reviewer for two of the vaccine’s trial sites, was fired in 2020 after reporting “blatant” and “widespread” misconduct she witnessed to the FDA, including “numerous violations of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Code of Federal Regulations every, single day.” 

Jackson alleged that Pfizer, Ventavia and ICON, another clinical research group, “deliberately withheld crucial information from the United States that calls the safety and efficacy of their vaccine into question,” and also “concealed violations of both their clinical trial protocol and federal regulations, including falsification of clinical trial documents.” 

Pfizer argued last year that even if the allegations are true, the US government endorsed it by purchasing 100 million doses for $1.95 billion. Therefore, Pfizer argued, the US government cannot have been defrauded.

When Ventavia fired her, Jackson claimed they violated the False Claims Act (FCA), which protects whistleblowers:

Any employee, contractor, or agent shall be entitled to all relief necessary to make that employee, contractor, or agent whole, if that employee, contractor, or agent is discharged, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed, or in any other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions of employment because of lawful acts done by the employee, contractor, agent or associated others in furtherance of an action under this section or other efforts to stop 1 or more violations of this subchapter.

But Judge Michael J. Truncale dismissed Jackson’s complaint last week, saying that according to the law, the False Claims Act (FCA) only applies to whistleblowers who engage in “protected activity”, which means being “motivated by a concern regarding fraud against the government”.

Unfortunately for Jackson, she was more concerned about Pfizer’s and Ventavia’s fraudulent actions against the public, which was later forced to take the vaccine, and not as concerned about the government.

“At no point does she allege that she was concerned about, or alerted Ventavia or the FDA to, potential ‘fraud against the government’,” reads the judge’s order. “Rather, she alleges that she complained about participant safety and regulatory, protocol, and HIPAA violations. But that is not protected activity under the FCA’s retaliation provision — internal complaints about patient safety, or protocol and regulatory violations, are not the same thing as complaining about defrauding the Government.”

Jackson’s attorney Robert Barnes did not immediately respond to Frontline News’ request for comment, but he has vowed to appeal.

“The court requires we appeal to hold Pfizer accountable in the [Brook Jackson] case, and we will be doing precisely that. #PfizerLiedPeopleDied,” Barnes tweeted.