Abuja, Nigeria
Nigeria filed charges against U.S. drug maker Pfizer Inc. this week, accusing it of dosing Nigerian kids with an unapproved drug during a meningitis epidemic. Pfizer says its use of the antibiotic Trovan on children in Kano state in 1996 was part of a clinical trial approved by the Nigerian government. But Kano authorities say that several children died from the drug. Kano state brought a suit against Pfizer two years ago that is still ongoing. Now the federal government has brought its own legal action, seeking nearly $7 billion in damages. The government contends that the Trovan scandal has made Nigerians reluctant to get vaccinations.
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