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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton today launched a “landmark” investigation into the financial incentives medical providers receive to vaccinate children.
The inquiry seeks to expose the “multi-level, multi-industry scheme that has illegally incentivized medical providers to recommend childhood vaccines that are not proven to be safe or necessary,” the press release stated.
“I will ensure that Big Pharma and Big Insurance don’t bribe medical providers to pressure parents to jab their kids with vaccines they feel aren’t safe or necessary,” Paxton said.
Paxton is issuing over 20 civil investigative demands to some of the largest U.S. medical providers, insurance companies and vaccine makers, including UnitedHealthcare and Pfizer.
Texas parents should be able to trust medical providers’ recommendations for their child’s health, Paxton said. “Any provider or entity whose medical guidance is fueled by financial incentives from an insurance company, Big Pharma, or otherwise will be exposed.”
Historically, kids in Texas have been “forced” to receive over 70 shots from birth to age 18 to continue receiving medical care, according to the press release.
Brian Hooker, Ph.D., Children’s Health Defense (CHD) chief scientific officer, called Paxton’s investigation “a very brave and welcome step in the right direction.”
“For years, practitioners have been financially incentivized to fully vaccinate children in their practices — which constitutes a huge conflict of interest,” Hooker said. “Children need the absolute best point-of-care medicine that is unfettered from any illegal financial biases.”
Karl Jablonowski, Ph.D., CHD senior research scientist, agreed. “When choices made for our children are conflated with incentivizations, our children will always lose.”
‘Babies, toddlers, children and teens have died horrific deaths because of this’
Polly Tommey, CHD.TV program director, praised Paxton’s investigation. “At long last, this is being looked into. Many parents are bullied into vaccinations because of this.”
Tommey has interviewed many parents whose children suffered injury or death after vaccination. “I can’t tell you how many parents have told me about the lies and abuse told by pediatricians and doctors when they question the safety,” she said.
“We found out from the pediatricians and doctors who were brave enough to speak out that there are massive incentives to vaccinate our babies,” Tommey said. “Babies, toddlers, children and teens have died horrific deaths because of this.”
CHD General Counsel Kim Mack Rosenberg agreed that the system is “broken.”
Pediatricians are incentivized to push vaccines and are punished if parents don’t comply, and doctors don’t meet target vaccination rates, Mack Rosenberg said.
“As a result, families face the real risk of being ‘fired’ by their pediatrician for simply exercising their right to make an informed choice concerning their child’s medical care and in many instances adhering to their religious or philosophical beliefs.”
According to the press release, Paxton is committed to “furthering the momentum” of parental choice in childhood vaccination decisions.
He noted that U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and President Donald Trump have recently taken actions to ensure the safety of childhood vaccines. His office will fight “alongside” them “to protect kids’ health and uphold transparency in the medical industry,” Paxton said.
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Texas hospital receives nearly $6,000 per COVID shot
Paxton’s investigation comes amid a national controversy over which vaccines should be routinely recommended to kids.
On Jan. 5, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reduced the number of routinely recommended childhood vaccines to just eight vaccines.
It moved several shots to a recommendation only for “certain high-risk groups or populations.”
The agency also moved several vaccines to a “shared clinical decision-making” category that encourages discussion between the doctor and patient or parent about whether to get the vaccine. The recategorized vaccines include rotavirus, COVID-19, influenza, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A and hepatitis B.
As of Jan. 15, at least 19 states rejected the CDC’s new childhood vaccine schedule. Most plan to follow the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) vaccine guidance released in November 2025.
CHD today sued the AAP in federal court. The lawsuit alleges that the AAP violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, by making “false and fraudulent” claims about the safety of the CDC’s childhood immunization schedule — while receiving funding from vaccine manufacturers and providing financial incentives to pediatricians who achieve high vaccination rates.
Unlike the CDC’s new schedule, the AAP’s schedule recommends the vaccines that the CDC recategorized as “shared decision-making.”
For instance, the AAP still recommends the COVID-19 vaccine for all infants and toddlers ages 6-23 months and for kids ages 2-18 years in certain risk groups.
Although Texas continues to follow CDC guidance, the state’s investigation may affect parents in other states that are now following AAP’s guidance, according to attorney Ray Flores, who has a practice in San Diego, California.
“Already in California, I am seeing proof that pediatricians are threatening to dismiss patients for not complying with the AAP schedule,” Flores said, “If the truth surfaces, parents may begin to understand their doctor’s motivation for requiring shots such as COVID-19.”
The COVID-19 shot is highly incentivized at a major Houston hospital, according to data obtained by Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, an ear, nose and throat specialist in Houston, Texas. In October 2025, the Texas Medical Board reprimanded Bowden for trying to provide ivermectin to a COVID-19 patient.
“A recent review of hospital prices provided by Houston Methodist Hospital revealed that if I had vaccinated the 6,000 patients I treated for COVID, I could have made $35,523,000,” she told The Defender.
Bowden posted on X a screenshot showing that the hospital collects up to $5,920.50 per shot.
If I had vaccinated the 6,000 patients I treated for Covid, I could have made $35,523,000.
This hospital collects up to $5920.50 per shot. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/YJC5VamC54
— Mary Talley Bowden MD (@MaryBowdenMD) January 17, 2026
“Incentives like this are unethical, and I applaud Ken Paxton for investigating this,” Bowden said.
Earlier this month, Paxton launched an investigation of major grocery chains over allegations that they are misting organic fruits and vegetables with an antimicrobial pesticide without informing consumers.
In October 2025, Paxton sued Johnson & Johnson and its spinoff Kenvue, alleging the companies deceptively marketed Tylenol as safe for pregnant women despite evidence linking the drug to autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or ADHD.
Related articles in The Defender- Growing Number of States Reject New Childhood Vaccine Schedule
- RFK Jr. Ends Financial Incentives for Hospitals That Report Staff Vaccination Rates
- ‘We Get Paid to Vaccinate Your Children’: Pediatrician Reveals Details of Big Pharma Payola Scheme
- Texas AG Targets Grocery Stores Over Spraying ‘Undisclosed’ Pesticide on Organic Produce
- Texas AG Sues Tylenol Makers for Hiding Autism Risks, Misleading Pregnant Women
