Lawsuit Against Vaccine Manufacturer

There's an announcement I finally get to make, Aaron, that

you've been-

Hmm

... driving me crazy for quite some time now,

uh, which

is on this case that we were supporting.

And it's the first-ever case that was brought against a vaccine

manufacturer. And ultimately, um...

Well, let me go ahead and play the commercial that's at the

heart

of this lawsuit, just to remind people, uh,

that this was taking place a couple years ago. Watch this.

There's something out there. It's a highly contagious disease.

It can be especially serious, even fatal, to infants.

Unfortunately, many people who spread it may not know

they have

it. It's called whooping cough, and the CDC recommends

everyone, including those around babies, make sure their whooping cough

vaccination is up to date. Understand the danger your new

grandchild faces. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about you and your

family getting a whooping cough vaccination today.

Now, of course, this was about... How many of you remember that ad campaign?

And th- they had pictures of it in Reader's

Digest, in

magazines. Um, this was the entire push to

get every grandparent to go and vaccinate if they

wanted to see the baby. And Aaron, we were getting so many complaints on

this from people like, "I, I don't wanna get the vaccine,

but my children aren't

allowing me to see my new grandbaby until I get

this whooping cough vaccine. I don't know what to do." Um,

and you brought the case. Why don't you explain what the case is?

'Cause it was quite unique.

Uh, sure. So, uh, as everybody in this audience I'm sure

knows, that

the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 grants

immunity for lawsuits that allege, you know, uh, uh, uh,

that seek damage, direct damages for injuries from

vaccination. Well, in this lawsuit, we alleged false

advertising,

obviously, which is a different kind of claim.

Um, and, uh, I'm gonna put aside all the complications

of it, but

the claim was effectively this. The pertussis vaccine, that

Tdap vaccine, it can reduce symptoms, right?

So you are less likely to know that you've been infected with the

pertussis bacterium. But what the data and studies

reflect, and make clear, in fact, is that if you get

the vaccine,

you are still just as likely

to be infected and carry that bacteria in your

nasopharynx, and hence transmit it.

You're just gonna li- less... You are, uh, um, uh, you're just

less likely to have symptoms. So think about that.

The person that gets the vaccine, just as likely to be

infected, just as likely to spread it, has less symptoms.

Do... Uh, are they more or less likely to hold the baby?

Are they more or less likely to go to school?

Obviously, they don't know they're sick.

They're more less likely to hold the baby, kiss the baby, smooch the baby.

On the other hand, the person that doesn't have the vaccine, that

gets infected, is more likely to know they have symptoms,

is more,

less likely to kiss the baby, smooch the baby, right? And so forth.

Um, and so as between these two groups, the vaccinated and the unvaccinated,

it is the vaccinated individual that's more likely to pick

up an, a, a, a baby and-

Wolf in this case. And they're trying to say not vaccinating

makes grandma the big

bad wolf.

Yep.

And am I to understand that you-

Hmm

... actually made an argument similar to, "No, the vaccinated grandma

is actually the big bad wolf"

. Did that ever get stated in court?

Yeah. Yes. The vaccinated grandma-

... is actually the big bad wolf, uh, based on what their

analogy is. I don't think any grandma's a big bad

wolf, just to be clear.

Okay. Good.

But-

Good

... but based on their analogy, who's going to be,

have the teeth that's gonna

eat their baby? Who's, who's more likely to do it?

Who's more likely to re- kill? In fact, what does a wolf do to a

baby? It murders the baby. I mean, what is that...

What is the message m- that, you know, one could take away from that commercial?

"You're a murderer.

You're a murderer if you don't take this product." That's really

the message. Uh, and but... And the irony is that

it's the opposite. Who's really the quote unquote,

based on the way

that they wanted it painted, that... Don't say, not saying this in reality.

Who i- who is that, th- who is that person? It's the one

that gets vaccine.

The worst part, by the way, is that those who actually had been infected

by

pertussis and never got vaccinated, they then have sterilizing immunity,

at least

for many years. They're not gonna get infected again.

Those who got the vaccine, they could be infected over, and over,

and over, and

over, and over again. So, you know, this was all in our court papers when

we filed that class action lawsuit.

That's what I just reflected to you, we allege in there.

And you know who said these things?

Their own paid consultants in peer review studies.

So it wasn't like we had to go, like, you know,

create this argument. They admitted it. These folks admitted it.

And so that ad campaign was... You know, a few weeks later you couldn't find it.

It was gone.

Yeah. I mean, that was the thing. I mean-

Yes

... as soon as you started this case, essentially all the ads came down.

This is years ago. I said, "I wanna-"

Yeah

... I wanna report on the fact that all the ad..." You said, "No, no, no,

no, no,

no, no. You're not reporting on anything."

Um, and so-

Well, it's best to wait-

... and so here it is. Well, let me just take this moment

... until the lawsuit is finished.

Let me just take this moment.

Yeah.

We beat the big bad wolf.

No, I'm kidding.

So-

October 29th-

That is true. Don't we, don't we-

... 2026.

Uh, uh...

So it's true. It, we... Th- this lawsuit, that was, uh, now five

years ago, and so you've been chomping at the bit,

and you finally got to do it

five years later. But obviously, you know, uh, since it was a pending lawsuit,

as... You know, we typically is, don't talk about pending lawsuits.

Just always better. And then when it's finally concluded and done, uh,

n- now you get to do that. Uh, and, and now it is complete.

We, you know, ended up having a class-wide settlement,

uh, for in, in New

York, and final approval, and everything's now been done.

And so, um, it is now, um... It's done.

And so, you know, the important part, too, is it's not necessarily

just this one instance of getting this commercial off, you

know, taken down and... Which I think in and of itself

was really important, to

be sure. But it's also

sending a message to, uh, pharmaceutical companies there is a line.

There's a line that you... You know, you don't have total impunity