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400 Women Are Suing Pfizer Over Birth Control Shot That Allegedly Gave Them Brain Tumors
Recent research has linked Pfizer’s widely-used Depo-Provera birth control shot to massively increased risk of developing brain tumors — and hundreds of women are suing the pharmaceutical giant over it.
According to a press release filed on behalf of the roughly 400 plaintiffs in the class action suit, the lawsuit claims that Pfizer and other companies that made generic versions of the injectable contraceptive knew of the link between the shot and the dangerous tumors, but didn’t properly warn users.
The suit follows a study published by the British Medical Journal last year that found that people who took the progestin-based shot for a year or more were up to 5.6 times more likely to develop meningioma, a slow-building brain tumor that forms, per the Cleveland Clinic, on the meninges, or layers of tissue that covers the brain and spinal cord.
Though Pfizer attached warning labels about meningioma to Depo-Provera sold in Canada in 2015 and the U.K., Europe, and South Africa after the 2024 study was published, no such label was deployed in the U.S. — a failure which according to the lawsuit is “inconsistent [with] global safety standards.”
FDA Approves a Next-Generation Covid Vaccine From Moderna, With Restrictions
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Moderna’s new COVID-19 vaccine late Friday, though it placed restrictions on its use that the company’s existing COVID-19 shot, Spikevax, does not currently face.
The new vaccine, which will be marketed under the name mNexspike, will not immediately replace Spikevax. A statement from the company said both vaccines will be available on the market for the time being.
“The FDA approval of our third product, mNEXSPIKE, adds an important new tool to help protect people at high risk of severe disease from Covid-19,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in the statement. “Covid-19 remains a serious public health threat, with more than 47,000 Americans dying from the virus last year alone.”
MMR Vaccination Rates Fell During the COVID Pandemic, County Data Show
Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination rates in children declined in some counties across the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers found. Across 2,066 counties in 33 states with both pre- and post-pandemic vaccination data, the county-level mean MMR vaccination rate decreased from 93.92% to 91.26%, according to Lauren Gardner, Ph.D., of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and colleagues.
A decline in coverage was reported in 78% of counties during this time, and only four states — California, Connecticut, Maine, and New York — had an increase in median county-level vaccination rates, they reported in a JAMA research letter. “Our county-level dataset complements the state- and national-level CDC data, confirming a widespread decline in MMR vaccination rates in the U.S. after the COVID-19 pandemic while revealing significant heterogeneity in vaccination patterns within and across states,” they wrote.
The potential for substantial variation in vaccination coverage within states is important “because a high state-average MMR rate can mask the fact that many counties within a state may have coverage well below the desired 95% herd immunity for measles, and are therefore at higher risk of measles outbreaks occurring,” Gardner told MedPage Today.
Pfizer CEO: HHS Claims of ‘Concealed Safety Concerns’ on mRNA Vaccines Are ‘Completely Inaccurate’
Pharmaceutical rivals don’t often come to each other’s defense. But after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) terminated a contract with drugmaker Moderna to develop an mRNA bird flu vaccine, claiming that “mRNA technology remains under-tested,” Pfizer’s chief executive is speaking up.
“MRNA probably is the most utilized vaccine in the history of humanity,” Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla said Friday, noting that there have been about 1.5 billion mRNA vaccine doses against COVID-19 administered worldwide from his company alone — not counting those from Moderna. “So it is extremely well-tested.”
HHS said Wednesday that it was canceling at least $590 million in federal funding the previous administration had granted for Moderna to use its mRNA technology to develop pandemic influenza vaccines, including those against H5 avian flu viruses. The H5N1 strain has infected at least 70 people and killed one in the U.S. since last year.
“We concluded that continued investment in Moderna’s H5N1 mRNA vaccine was not scientifically or ethically justifiable,” an HHS spokesperson said, claiming, “the reality is that mRNA technology remains under-tested, and we are not going to spend taxpayer dollars repeating the mistakes of the last administration, which concealed legitimate safety concerns from the public.” Asked his response to those comments, Bourla responded, “both of them are completely inaccurate.”
Terrible News for Pfizer Stock Investors
The past three years have been challenging for Pfizer. Revenue and earnings have moved in the wrong direction, as has the company’s share price. The stock is down by 56% since 2022. Although Pfizer has made some efforts to turn things around, they have been insufficient. And recent regulatory developments in the U.S. somewhat complicate things for the drugmaker.
Here’s what investors need to know. Pfizer’s poor performance since 2022 is largely due to its coronavirus portfolio. After producing record revenue thanks to its work in this area, once the pandemic started receding, sales from Comirnaty, its COVID-19 vaccine, and Paxlovid, its therapy for the disease, started dropping off a cliff. However, Pfizer’s coronavirus franchise has remained critical to its overall financial results. In 2024, the company’s combined revenue from Paxlovid and Comirnaty was $11.1 billion.
Pfizer’s total top line came in at $63.6 billion, increasing 7% compared to the year-ago period. When excluding contributions from its coronavirus products, Pfizer’s revenue grew more quickly — by 12% year over year. The company’s sales were down compared to 2023 but still accounted for about 17.5% of its top line. That’s a meaningful amount. Pfizer would be in a lot more trouble without Paxlovid and Comirnaty.
