Nigeria sues Pfizer for illegal drug trials, claims $7 billion in damages

05 June 2007

Mumbai: The Nigerian government has filed charges against Pfizer, the world''s largest pharmaceutical multinational and the maker of male anti-impotency drug Viagra, accusing it of carrying out drug trials for its anti-meningitis drug Trovan without approval from the Nigerian government, demanding $7 billion in damages from the US company.

Pfizer, which said the trials were conducted according to Nigerian and international law, had tested the experimental antibiotic Trovan in Kano, in Northern Nigeria, during an outbreak of meningitis in 1996, prior to its approval by the US FDA in 1997.

Some 200 children are said to have died while others developed mental and physical deformities as a result of side effects after the drug was administered to them.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved Trovan, also known as Trovafloxacin, to treat a broad range of infections. However, its use was severely restricted in 1999 after being linked to several cases of liver failure.

The Nigerian government is claiming $7 billion in damages for the families of children who died or suffered debilitating side effects after being administered Trovan, as part of Pfizer''s drug trials.

The state government of Kano, where the trials were conducted, had filed separate charges against Pfizer earlier in 2005, seeking $2.7 billion on behalf of the families.